Lee & Ko provided advice to the Korea Communications Commission (“KCC”) on its amendments to the Telecommunication Business Act (“TBA”) that would implement Korea’s market-opening commitments under the Korea-U.S./EU Fair Trade Agreements (“FTAs”). Under the amendments, Korean corporations with a qualified foreign majority shareholder owning 15% or more of the total voting shares are no longer to be subject to the so-called “deemed foreign” rules. With the assistance of Lee & Ko’s substantial experience dealing with complicated foreign ownership restriction issues under the TBA and specialized understanding of the FTAs, the relevant provisions of the TBA regarding public interest review necessary for the foreign investor’s acquisition of stock of facilities-based telecommunications service providers were amended effective from August 13, 2013.