FTC chief vows to crack down on unfair 'oligopoly' of likes of Naver, Kakao and Google

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FTC chief vows to crack down on unfair 'oligopoly' of likes of Naver, Kakao and Google

Published: 21 Oct. 2024, 18:00 Updated: 21 Oct. 2024, 19:40

SHIN HA-NEE
shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr

Fair Trade Commission Chairman Han Ki-jeong speaks during a parliamentary audit at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

Korea’s chief antitrust watchdog promised to enhance the accountability of global platform operators with bolstered regulations.

“We will proceed with the legislation process to promptly resolve issues involving the market monopoly and oligopoly of online platform operators, and to protect the financially vulnerable, while also closely monitoring any unfair practices by platform companies,” said Fair Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Han Ki-jeong in his remarks during a parliamentary audit held at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Monday.

“We will enhance the accountability of platform operators, including overseas companies, and do our best to prevent any consumer damage caused by newly emerged modes of business transactions.”

The FTC recently announced its plan to tighten antitrust regulations for major online platforms with market dominance, which is expected to affect the operations in Korea for Naver, Kakao, Google and Apple.

During the audit, Democratic Party Rep. Cheon Jun-ho accused the FTC of giving Coupang an advantage by capping the settlement period for payments to sellers on e-commerce platforms at 20 days from the initial transaction, instead of 10, which the majority of sellers preferred. The settlement period cap was announced following the massive payout delay incident at TMON and WeMakePrice.

Han denied that the regulator has given favorable treatment to any specific company, saying, “The cap was set in consideration of the fact that many companies would need to change their current systems [with a 10-day limit].”

Following Han, Ham Yoon-sik, an executive vice president at Woowa Brothers — which operates Korea's leading delivery app, Baedal Minjok — was asked about the firm’s recent hike in service fees from 6.8 percent to 9.8 percent.

“It was inevitable, as our competitor [Coupang Eats] raised the fee in advance,” said Ham, citing the same reason for demanding the most favorable treatment in contracts as well.

Regarding the demand for preferential treatment by the delivery service apps, the FTC chairman said, “We are currently looking into the issue,” promising to take action if necessary.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]