Fair Trade Commission Vice Chairman: "Active Response to Anti-Competitive Practices on Online Platforms"

Fair Trade Commission and Korean Competition Law Association Joint Academic Conference
Discussion on Regulation of Online Platform Abuse and Fair Trade Measures
Kim Jaesin "Comprehensive Revision of the E-Commerce Act Underway"

Kim Jae-shin, Vice Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) announced that it plans to actively respond to anti-competitive practices in the online platform sector through its ICT Special Task Force. The KFTC is working on institutional improvements, including a comprehensive revision of the Electronic Commerce Act.

On the 27th, Kim Jaeshin, Vice Chairman of the KFTC, made this announcement at the academic conference titled "Regulation of Abuse of Power and Fair Trade in Online Platform Sector." The conference was jointly hosted by the KFTC and the Korean Competition Law Association.

In his congratulatory remarks, Vice Chairman Kim said, "The KFTC plans to actively respond to innovation-hindering acts in new industries through investigations and corrective actions on anti-competitive practices by the ICT Special Task Force."

He added, "The KFTC announced the legislative proposal for the Online Platform Fairness Act last September and is undertaking comprehensive institutional improvements, including a full revision of the Electronic Commerce Act."

The academic conference was held under the themes of "Regulation of Abuse of Power by Online Platform Operators" and "Review of Fair Trade in Online Platform Transactions."

Participants presented on topics including ▲improving the evaluation system of platform operators' market dominance based on sales revenue ▲cases where German and French competition authorities regulated platform operators for exploitative abuse ▲the necessity of regulating unfair trade practices before contract formation, including contract format and procedures, and after contract conclusion.

The KFTC stated, "We plan to comprehensively review the opinions raised by academia, legal circles, and industry at this academic conference and reflect them in future competition policies in the platform sector."