Fair Trade Commission's Best Decision in the Last Decade: Qualcomm Sanction... 1.03 Trillion Won Fine, Largest Ever

40th Anniversary of Fair Trade, Selection of Key Adjudication Cases from the Last 10 Years

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has selected the case titled "Qualcomm Incorporated and Others' Abuse of Market Dominance" as the best adjudication case of the last 10 years. This case involved Qualcomm abusing its dominant position in the chipset and patent markets, resulting in the KFTC imposing the largest fine in history, amounting to 1.03 trillion KRW.

The KFTC announced on the 15th that Park Jung-hyun, the officer who presented the "Qualcomm case" at the adjudication case presentation held on the 13th to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the fair trade system, received the grand prize.

The KFTC selected seven key cases from over 20,000 adjudication cases accumulated over the past decade and held a presentation session where all employees shared the investigation and analysis process of each case. The investigation officers presented difficulties and solutions encountered during the investigation, as well as contentious issues during the adjudication process, followed by a Q&A session. The final rankings were determined through evaluations by experts and employees.

The excellence award was given to Officer Kim Jun-hee, who presented the case on "Violation of Corporate Merger Restriction Regulations by Four Delivery App Operators including Delivery Hero." The encouragement awards were given to Officer Kang Seung-bin and Officer Kim Kyung-won, who presented the cases on "Unfair Labeling and Advertising Practices by Audi Volkswagen Korea" and "Abuse of Market Dominance in Naver Shopping," respectively.

The KFTC plans to distribute the "Top 20 Adjudication Cases (2011?2021)" early next month to related organizations such as the National Assembly, government ministries, academia, and libraries. In the second half of the year, an English version will also be published to promote the KFTC’s law enforcement achievements to foreign competition authorities and others.