SEJONG — South Korea’s antitrust chief on Monday defended the country’s platform regulations, saying the Fair Trade Commission would continue enforcing competition rules on domestic and foreign companies amid growing scrutiny of global tech firms.
FTC Chairman Ju Biung-ghi said the agency would maintain its enforcement approach based on legal principles, as high-profile cases involving Coupang and the proposed Naver-Dunamu combination put Korea’s digital market regulations under the spotlight.
“The FTC will not be swayed by such concerns and will continue to enforce the law strictly while maintaining procedural fairness and without discriminating against foreign companies,” Ju said during a press conference marking his first year as chairman.
The remarks come amid concerns raised by some US lawmakers over Korea’s regulatory environment for American companies operating in the country.
The FTC’s review of Coupang has emerged as a key case in the debate. Coupang, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is one of Korea’s largest e-commerce platforms.
The regulator is examining whether Coupang submitted inaccurate information when designating its owner under Korea’s fair trade regulations. Ju said the FTC is reviewing relevant materials and will take action according to the law if violations are confirmed.
Ju rejected concerns that foreign companies were being treated differently, citing Korea’s long track record of enforcing competition laws against overseas firms.
“Korea has been actively enforcing competition laws against foreign companies for more than 25 years,” Ju said. “Until now, we have not faced concerns from foreign competition authorities over discriminatory enforcement or procedural unfairness.”
The FTC is also reviewing the proposed combination between Naver and Dunamu, operator of Upbit, Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
The deal has drawn attention because it would link Naver’s search and payment ecosystem with Dunamu’s virtual asset platform, raising questions over potential market concentration in digital services.
“Competition concerns have been raised across more than 10 related markets as this involves dominant platforms in search, simple payments and virtual assets,” Ju said, adding that the FTC aims to complete the review within the year.
Ju also highlighted artificial intelligence as an emerging area for competition enforcement, warning that dominant platforms could extend their existing market power into AI services.
“Competition authorities need to carefully examine cases where platform operators make users effectively rely on their own AI services,” he said.
yeeun@heraldcorp.com
