FTC Granted Right to Check Chaebol Accounts

The government plans to grant the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) the right to pursue bank accounts and check transactions records to aid in their investigations into illegal internal transactions among chaebols' subsidiaries.
This will force the five biggest chaebols to make financial dealings more transparent and ultimately improve their financial structure.
President Kim Dae Jung, during his visit to China, required economic ministries to prepare for faster reforms.
He wants to resolve the most urgent economic problems as soon as he returns from his visit to China and the APEC Summit in Malaysia.
Kim, first, urged the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) and the Financial Supervisory Committee (FSC) to crystallize the ways in which the five biggest chaebols are restructuring, as they are being criticized for their very slow progress.
The government plans to introduce more concrete goals for their financial structure improvement.
President Kim said that the FTC will be able to investigate bank accouts for the next two to three years at which time the government will review the law.
The FTC must act in consultation with the MOFE. He also required a clear criteria in judging whether internal transactions violate the law, to minimize the complaint of chaebols.
Additionally, the President wants affiliated ministries to make coordinated efforts to mitigate problems regarding the controversial decision to abolish objective taxes.
According to the President's indication, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry should make long term plans to restructure three cooperative associations including agriculture, fisheries, and livestock.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy should form plans to restructure Korea Telecom before its privatization.