Fair Trade Chief Vows to Eradicate Unfair Practices Undermining Growth, Such as Technology Theft

Inauguration Ceremony of Chairman Joo Byungki

Joo Byungki, Chairperson of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, emphasized, "We will work to eradicate unfair practices such as technology theft and unfair payment practices that undermine the growth foundation of small and venture businesses."

At his inauguration ceremony held at the Sejong Government Complex on September 16, Chairperson Joo stated, "We will strive to create a cooperative business ecosystem where innovative small and venture companies can grow and small business owners can enjoy economic freedom." President Lee Jaemyung had previously approved the appointment of Chairperson Joo on September 13.

Chairperson Joo said, "We will strengthen the bargaining power of economically vulnerable parties so that they can stand up to economically powerful entities such as franchisors and principal contractors. The capabilities of the Fair Trade Commission will become a source of strength for the economically disadvantaged."

He stressed, "Korea, which must compete with advanced nations, can no longer get ahead relying solely on high-quality labor, human resources, and manpower as it did in the past. Above all, we need to upgrade the capabilities of our institutions, especially the market system."

Regarding policies on large business groups, he promised, "We will build a healthy corporate ecosystem that is committed to innovative investment and efficient management." He added, "To enable our leading conglomerates and mid-sized companies to focus on innovation, we will tighten our monitoring of negative incentives within business groups, such as private interests and unfair support."

On regulating platform monopolies, he said, "The online platform market is closely tied to the livelihoods and jobs of the economically vulnerable and to consumer welfare, and its scale is expanding," and emphasized, "We will work to establish rules that protect platform-based businesses and ensure fair trading practices."

However, he reaffirmed the principle that "while we will work to advance the Fair Transactions Act, which addresses power imbalances, as quickly as possible, the Monopoly Regulation Act is linked to trade issues and whether or not the Fair Trade Commission should take the lead requires consultation with the executive branch. There is no need for the Commission to move ahead unilaterally."

Regarding organizational restructuring, Chairperson Joo commented, "We need to increase personnel in areas dealing with power imbalance issues, such as platform companies, franchisees, and franchisors. I also believe that more staff are needed for economic analysis and data production and analysis."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.