The Korea Fair Trade Commission (the “KFTC”) investigated NAVER, the No.1 online platform business in Korea, for abuse of market dominance and unfair trade practice. Lee & Ko’s Antitrust & Competition Practice Group represented NAVER in responding to the KFTC’s investigation and hearing. More specifically, based on a thorough analysis of NAVER’s business structure and the characteristics of the internet platform business, Lee & Ko presented effective arguments on market definition, establishment of abuse of market dominance and unfair trade practices, and distinct characteristics of the online platform market. As the result of proactive and convincing responses, Lee & Ko was able to persuade the KFTC from seeking criminal charges against the corporation as well as to reduce the amount of administrative fine imposed on the corporation.
The KFTC recently announced the proposal for the “Fair Intermediation Transactions on Online Platform Act” and began operating an ICT task force, which shows the KFTC’s intent to strengthen its enforcement of activity in the online platform market. As such, we anticipate that this case will be a precedent-setting case for the KFTC’s future legal enforcement against players in the online platform market.