By Bae Hyun-jung



The ruling Saenuri Party, in an aim to protect small and middle-sized enterprises, decided to exclude large firms from specific business fields, officials said Thursday.

The party’s interim council thus agreed to submit a revision of the Monopoly Regulations and Fair Trade Act to limit the conglomerates’ market share and to introduce a class action system for small firms.

“Conglomerates have often been blamed for eating away at the business items of smaller firms,” said Rep. Lee Ju-young, the party’s policy committee chairman in a briefing.

“The party will categorize business fields which are mainly taken over by small firms and limit the conglomerates’ corresponding market share from the current 5 percent to 1 percent.”

It is not yet certain whether the protectionist measure will take a retroactive effect, he added.

The council will also lead a regular inspection on the transactions between conglomerate branches in order to prevent monopolization, placing focus on the top 30 firms.

Those caught on irregularities may face criminal charges, as well as civil ones.

The party also set to legislating exemplary damage compensation, obligating conglomerates to pay back as much as triple the original damages to their subcontractors, should the deal be unfair.

Also, a class action system will be introduced for victims of bid rigging cases, Lee said.

A class action involves a system in which all victims of a specific case, regardless of their participation in the related legal suit, may receive compensation based on the court ruling.

“These policies will be legislated as soon as possible and adopted as the party’s campaign pledges for the upcoming April general elections,” Lee said.

(tellme@heraldcorp.com)