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On June 16, 2022, the administration of President Yoon Suk-yeol unveiled its economic policy direction.

The new administration views that the Korean economy faces a crisis, and has identified challenges such as economic decline, high inflation, and growing uncertainties at home and abroad. Given such economic reality, the new administrat...

On May 3, 2022, the 20th Presidential Transition Committee (the “Committee”) announced 110 national agenda items (the “National Agenda”) for the Yoon Suk-yeol Administration, which lists the new administration’s key policy objectives and direction. They include detailed tasks relating to the field of fair trade under the objective of creating “a c...

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (led by Chairperson Sungwook Joh, hereinafter referred to as the \"KFTC\") decided to impose corrective orders on GM Korea, a car manufacturer, for making dealerships that sell its cars perform online advertising activities only on a specific online channel by abusing its superior bargaining position.

This m...

KFTC M&A Review Trends in 2021

1. Overview
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (led by Chairperson Sung-wook Joh, hereinafter the “KFTC”) analyzed and announced its M&A review trends in 2021. The KFTC reviewed a total of 1,113 M&A cases in 2021, which was a 248 (865→1,113 cases, 28.7%↑) increase from the previous year. Total value reached...

February 14, 2022
Korean Fair Trade Commission, E-Commerce Division

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (led by Chairperson Sung-wook Joh, hereinafter the \"KFTC\") ordered Google, Netflix, KT, LG Uplus and Content Wavve to cease interfering with their users\' cancellations of memberships and VOD purchases. In addition, the KFTC imposed a...

March 7, 2022
Korean Fair Trade Commission, E-Commerce Division

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (led by Chairperson Sung-wook Joh, hereinafter the \"KFTC\") decided to impose corrective measures on Naver, Kakao, 11st, eBay, Interpark, Coupang, and Tmon after finding that these seven platform operators failed to properly provide inform...

On February 21, 2022, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (the “KFTC”) granted a conditional approval for Korean Air’s acquisition of 63.88% of the outstanding shares of Asiana Airlines. In its review of the proposed merger between the two largest Korean airlines, the KFTC identified a number of antitrust concerns including potential entry barriers on ...

On January 27, 2022, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (\"KFTC\") announced that it reorganized its Information and Communications Technology Task Force (\"ICT TF\") into a more comprehensive division called the Digital Markets Response Team in light of the multi-sided nature of digital platforms and recent changes (e.g., technological advances) in t...

Amid the increasing use of social media platforms by consumers, recent consumer perception surveys have indicated that sponsored customer reviews on social media are having a greater influence on consumers\' purchasing decisions than more traditional forms of advertisement (e.g., TV commercials, in-store signage). However, there has also been a su...

On January 6, 2022, the KFTC released for public comments its proposed Review Guidelines for Regulations Against Abuse of Dominance and Unfair Trade Practice by Online Platform Businesses (Draft Guidelines). The KFTC will accept comments on the Draft Guidelines through January 26, 2022.

1. Summary of the Draft Guidelines

A. Applic...