Broadcom, Google and Kakao Mobility in the FTC's sights

Korea's antitrust regulator plans to review punitive actions over U.S. chipmaker Broadcom for its alleged unfair business activity involving Korean smartphone makers, its chief said Thursday.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) plans to deliberate the level of its sanctions against Broadcom on allegations that it forced Korean smartphone makers to enter unfavorable long-term contracts in a bid to beat its rivals, FTC chief Joh Sung-wook told reporters.

The FTC has been investigating the allegations that Broadcom violated Korea's fair trade act by pressing Samsung Electronics and others to ink exclusive contracts with it over the supply of communication chips.

The commission plans to hold a review session after the U.S. company submits its opinions about the outcome of the commission's probe, according to Joh.

The FTC plans to strengthen its supervision over anti-competitive acts by powerful online platform operators and monitor damage related to the over-the-top (OTT) media services.

Joh said the regulator plans to speed up its investigation into unfair business activities by Google and Kakao Mobility, the country's leading tax-hailing firm.

The FTC is looking into the allegations that Google forced mobile game applications to be only released on its Play store.

It is also investigating the suspicion that Kakao Mobility deliberately gives priority to taxis affiliated with the firm for receiving calls when a customer hails a taxi with the Kakao T application.

"The commission will swiftly and sternly respond to mega platforms' abuse of their market dominant status in a bid to help prop up innovation in the digital market," Joh said.

Yonhap