Antitrust chief to get tough on cartels

Fair Trade Commission Chairman Chung Ho-yul claimed yesterday his agency will take a tougher stance on cartels, saying that the watchdog has been too lenient on collusion.

Chung said in a forum in Seoul that Korea has lagged in enforcing regulations on cartels. "We will enforce related laws more aggressively," he said.

"Korean companies including Samsung and LG Electronics have paid combined fines of 1.8 trillion won for breaching U.S. fair trade laws," the FTC chief noted.

He said that Korean companies face such problems in part because the government has not done enough keep corporations in line domestically.



Chung, a former professor of corporate law at Sungkyunkwan University, was tapped as FTC chairman in July.

He pointed out that the construction and shipbuilding sectors in particular still tend to engage in antitrust activities. He warned that they may face large fines by overseas antitrust bodies.

"I will meet major industrial leaders later this year and early next year to let them know about the FTC`s stance and share our expertise and skills," he said.

His comments came before the watchdog`s planned announcement next week of a fine placed on energy firms that were charged with price fixing.

SK Energy, GS Caltex, S-Oil, Hyundai Oilbank, E1 and SK Gas could end up with a bill totaling more than a combined 1 trillion won, industry watchers said.

The watchdog is also investigating price fixing in air freight charges between Korean and foreign airliners.

Chung also vowed to push for more market deregulation, saying the FTC is preparing a revision bill to ease regulations on holding companies within the year.

The watchdog`s revision bill includes allowing non-financial holding companies to own a financial unit. The bill would also scrap the 200 percent debt ratio cap on holding companies.

(yoonmi@heraldm.com)



By Kim Yoon-mi