Jung, Youngjin --- "International Interactions of Korean Competition Law" [2011] ELECD 192; in Chang, Wha Seung; Choi, Won-Mog (eds), "Trade Law and Regulation in Korea" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: Trade Law and Regulation in Korea

Editor(s): Chang, Wha Seung; Choi, Won-Mog

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847209221

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: International Interactions of Korean Competition Law

Author(s): Jung, Youngjin

Number of pages: 15

Extract:

6. International interactions of Korean
competition law
Youngjin Jung

1. INTRODUCTION

Competition law or antitrust law, once considered to be the sole domain
of domestic law, has gone global. It now reaches beyond the realm of
domestic jurisdiction. Korean competition law is not an exception. The
Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) routinely stretches the Monopoly
Regulation and Fair Trade Act (MRFTA) overseas to pursue and regu-
late anticompetitive behaviors by foreign companies located in foreign
jurisdictions. Global cartel enforcement is probably the most glaring
example of this trend. In the Graphite-electrodes case, the KFTC success-
fully extended its jurisdiction over foreign companies and regulated and
punished overseas cartel behavior. In later cases, the KFTC has demon-
strated a continued penchant for global cartels that adversely affect the
Korean market. The KFTC's establishment of the International Cartel
Division within the Cartel Bureau demonstrates its commitment to
cracking down on global cartels. Equally important, the KFTC has also
actively enforced its merger control regulations with respect to foreign-
to-foreign business combinations. Korean lawyers are routinely asked
by international clients to assess whether billions of dollars of global
mega-mergers would trigger notification obligations. Abuse of market
dominance is another area in which the KFTC's global reach is apparent.
The KFTC's 2006 Microsoft decision was just a harbinger of subsequent
investigations by the KFTC into global IT giants, such as Intel and
Qualcomm. On June 5, 2008 and July 23, 2009, the KFTC set yet further
milestones by ...