[2020 National Audit] "Symbol of Gapjil, Abuse of Superior Bargaining Position... 37% Unfair Trade Practices"

Yoon Kwan-seok, Chairman of the Political Affairs Committee, "Caution Against Monopoly in the Online Platform Market"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Among unfair trade practices, 'abuse of superior bargaining position' accounts for the largest proportion.

According to data received by Yoon Kwan-seok, chairman of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee and member of the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Fair Trade Commission on the 22nd, the type that accounted for the largest proportion among unfair trade practice cases reported to the Fair Trade Commission from 2015 to 2019 was abuse of superior bargaining position.

Last year, out of 208 unfair trade practice cases, 76 cases of abuse of superior bargaining position accounted for 36.5%. Unfair customer inducement (40 cases), unfair support (37 cases), and refusal to trade (19 cases) followed.

Besides last year, abuse of superior bargaining position recorded the largest proportion among unfair trade practices in 2015 (49.6%), 2016 (41.0%), 2017 (46.7%), and 2018 (42.9%).

Abuse of superior bargaining position refers to acts that unfairly use a superior position, such as forcing the trading partner to provide economic benefits. Typical examples include convenience store headquarters pushing down supply prices or shifting advertising costs.

Since giant platforms like Naver and Google monopolize the market, warnings have been raised that unfair practices such as abuse of market-dominant position or abuse of superior bargaining position may increase in the online platform market.

Chairman Yoon stated, "Abuse of superior bargaining position is a representative gapjil act that accounts for the largest proportion among unfair practices," adding, "As some online platform markets rapidly become monopolized, it is necessary to be cautious about whether illegal acts may occur."