Antitrust watchdog chief slams Coupang's legal efforts to stymie probe

Korea’s antitrust watchdog said a court-ordered halt to its inspection of Coupang is “extremely serious” as it vowed to respond strongly to corporate efforts to undermine the effectiveness of its on-site inspections.

Fair Trade Commission (FTC) Chairperson Ju Biung-ghi said Monday that the agency will seek ways to tighten its rules to prevent companies from circumventing on-site inspections after legal challenges by Coupang and Hanwha disrupted two of its probes. But the agency rejected calls to introduce a special judicial police system.

“The FTC plans to review its internal rules governing investigations and consider revisions to close loopholes that allow companies to evade probes,” the FTC chief said in a press conference marking his first year in office at the government complex in Sejong. “We are considering tightening the rules to limit companies’ ability to circumvent on-site inspections, but we are not yet at the stage of considering compulsory investigative powers.”

His remarks come in the wake of court approval of requests by Coupang to block the FTC’s on-site probe into allegations that the company shifted the costs of discounts onto suppliers and a pause on document submission orders for Hanwha Group.

“The FTC inspections are conducted with the consent of the company under investigation and are fundamentally different from criminal searches and seizures carried out by police or prosecutors,” Ju said, adding that such inspections do not disrupt a company’s business or production activities. “If an on-site inspection is put on hold for about 30 days, its effectiveness can effectively be considered nullified.”

“It was regrettable that the FTC's investigation was effectively disrupted,” he said, noting the probe was intended to protect hundreds of thousands of small business owners doing business with Coupang.

When asked whether Coupang came up during his recent trip to the United States, where he met with U.S. officials, Ju said the meetings focused on broader issues rather than specific cases.

He said the FTC would convey its position through Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs if necessary, responding to a July report by a U.S. House committee that accused Korea of launching discriminatory attacks against the e-commerce giant and other U.S. companies, and said the treatment violated last year’s bilateral trade agreement.

“The FTC will not be swayed by such concerns. We will continue enforcing the law in a nondiscriminatory manner against foreign companies while upholding procedural fairness,” Ju said.

“The FTC has more than 25 years of experience enforcing competition law against foreign companies. As an IT powerhouse and a leading platform economy, Korea has had no choice but to take an active approach to enforcing its laws against foreign companies. To date, no foreign competition authority has raised concerns over discriminatory enforcement or a lack of procedural fairness,” Ju added.

BY JIN MIN-JI [[email protected]]