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[ITIF] Better Regulation, Not More: Rethinking Korea’s Competition Policy for the Next Decade
Better Regulation, Not More: Rethinking Korea’s Competition Policy for the Next Decade홍대식 교수(서강대학교 법학전문대학원)2025. 3. 11. Information Technology and Innovation Foundation[원문 보기]With the appointment of Chairman Joo Byung-ki and a forthcoming reorganization, Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) faces a pivotal moment. ITIF’s Center for Korean Innovation and Competitiveness convened a webinar with four leading experts to explore how the commission can balance regulation, innovation, and competitiveness across three areas: platform markets, corporate governance, and procedural reform. Throughout the discussion, panelists emphasized the need for transparent and predictable enforcement that sustains market confidence and innovation. A full transcript of the event is available in Korean, and a summary follows. As the KFTC enters its fifth decade, it is clear its mission must evolve—from control to credibility, and from compliance to competitiveness. Part 1. Platform Regulation—Between Fairness and InnovationThe session opened with a central question: “Should Korea establish a dedicated platform law, or should the KFTC pursue fairer digital-market outcomes through guidance and ex-post enforcement within existing statutes?” Prof. Dae Sik Hong (Sogang University Law)Hong cautioned strongly against copying Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). “The EU adopted the DMA out of desperation,” he said, noting that Europe lacked domestic tech champions and needed an aggressive instrument to discipline U.S. giants. “Korea’s situation is entirely different. We already have globally competitive national platforms—this is not an ICU patient that needs radical treatment.” He stressed that the KFTC already possesses extensive powers under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (MRFTA) and its many derivative statutes governing subcontracting, franchising, and agency transactions. “Korea’s existing legal architecture already covers unfair-trade practices and transaction-fairness rules that the EU doesn’t even have,” he said. Creating another DMA-style act would duplicate those powers while adding complexity. Instead, Hong urged regulators to refine current rules, clarify guidance, and let market-led compliance evolve. “If we rush to legislate,” he warned, “we’ll bury domestic innovators under compliance paperwork while U.S. and Chinese platforms keep expanding globally.” Part 2. Corporate Governance—Re-defining the KFTC’s RoleThe discussion then turned to the intersection of corporate law and competition policy. Korea now operates under dual oversight systems: judicial enforcement through the Commercial Act and administrative enforcement through the KFTC. Prof. Dae Sik HongHong reframed the debate as one of incentives. he said, “It is true that the KFTC has long intervened even in matters that should have been resolved through judicial processes, and I agree that its domain of intervention should now gradually be reduced.” He continued, “The KFTC’s current approach to regulating corporate group governance no longer fits today’s economic reality. IT companies have fundamentally different ownership and governance structures from traditional manufacturers, yet they are still subject to outdated, accounting-based regulations. As a result, Korea has seen little progress in developing more advanced or diversified corporate group models. If the purpose of corporate group regulation is to promote sound and desirable governance, the system should be complemented by incentive mechanisms that actually encourage such evolution.” Part 3. Enforcement and Institutional Reform—From Control to TrustThe final session addressed persistent concerns from businesses about opaque procedures and overlapping investigations. Prof. Dae Sik HongHong called for institutional downsizing and clearer specialization within the KFTC. “The Commission tries to do everything—platform regulation, consumer protection, conglomerate oversight—and ends up overstretched,” he said. Staff rotations and performance incentives, he added, encourage quantity of investigations over procedural rigor. He emphasized that due process and evidence-based fact-finding are the legal foundations of fair enforcement, yet these principles often suffer under the Commission’s workload. “Korea’s pursuit of both speed and fairness has become structurally incompatible,” he observed. Hong proposed delegating routine fair-trade cases—such as franchise or local transaction disputes—to provincial authorities, allowing the KFTC to focus on systemic market-competition issues. He further recommended separating investigation and adjudication functions, citing the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority as a model for balanced institutional design. “The KFTC should stop trying to act as a first-instance court,” Hong concluded. “It should make swift, clear administrative decisions, while an independent appeals body handles final judgment. Only then can the Commission focus on what it does best—ensuring competition, not managing everything.”
2026.10.14