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South Korea
Intelligence for Better Decision Making
Fair Trade Commission investigation on Coupang
Sept. 11, 2024 | Indirect Indicator- The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) plans to tighten antitrust regulations on major online platforms like Naver and Kakao by banning four anticompetitive practices: preferential treatment, tie-in sales, restrictions on multihoming, and favorable management demands.
- The revision of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act aims to increase corporate fines from 6% to 8% of annual revenue and impose a stronger burden of proof on companies for suspected anticompetitive practices.
- The FTC will have the authority to temporarily halt business operations it deems anticompetitive under the new regulations.
- New rules will apply to platform operators with significant market dominance and exclude companies with less than 4 trillion won in annual revenue.
- The government has decided to abandon the enactment of the Online Platform Act in favor of post-regulation measures, opting for amendments to the Fair Trade Act through extensive stakeholder consultations.
- Major platform companies like Coupang and Baedal Minjok will be exempt from immediate regulatory scrutiny, while Naver, Kakao, and Google are expected to fall under the revised regulation.
- Industry concerns persist about selective regulation that targets domestic firms, potentially leaving foreign companies less regulated.
- The FTC plans to revise both the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act and the Large-Scale Distribution Business Act to resolve industry conflicts and foster fair competition among platforms.
- The proposed revisions focus on banning anti-competitive practices and setting a burden of proof on businesses, though the platform industry worries about potential growth inhibition.
- Coupang has filed an administrative lawsuit against the FTC after being fined 162.8 billion won for manipulating search rankings and misleading reviews to favor its private brand products.
- The revised Fair Trade Act will impose regulations based on a company's market share and user base, affecting major firms like Google, Apple, Naver, and Kakao, but excluding Coupang and Baedal Minjok.
- The maximum fine for confirmed anti-competitive practices will increase from 6% to 8% of relevant sales, and a new temporary suspension order system will be introduced.
- Coupang has appealed a record fine of 162.8 billion won imposed by the FTC for search result manipulation and unfairly favoring its private brand products.
- The FTC has initiated an investigation into CJ Olive Young for suspected supplier bullying, including pressuring suppliers to avoid events hosted by rival platform Musinsa.
- Coupang's bundling of services like Coupang Eats and Coupang Play into a subscription package has raised antitrust concerns, prompting an FTC investigation into potential misconduct.
TMON and WeMakePrice entering rehabilitation proceedings
Sept. 11, 2024 | Indirect Indicator- The Seoul Bankruptcy Court has granted a rehabilitation process for e-commerce platforms TMON and WeMakePrice.
- Both companies are experiencing a liquidity crisis due to nearly 1 trillion won (US$744 million) in overdue vendor payments. They filed for rehabilitation on July 29, citing financial difficulties from significant refund requests and the loss of business partners.
- The rehabilitation process follows their application for court-supervised rehabilitation, attributing their financial struggles to aggressive merger deals by their owner, Qoo10. Approval for this request was granted by Judge Ahn Byung-wook on September 10, 2024.
- The companies had been undergoing a restructuring support program since August 2 but failed to present adequate self-rescue plans in a timely manner.
- The court will appoint custodians to identify creditors and debts and to create rehabilitation plans, which are subject to final court approval. An administrator will compile a list of creditors and finalize the rehabilitation plan based on their claims.
Monitored Intelligence for South Korea - Sept. 13, 2024
News
Media
389
Government
Releases
17
City/State
Releases
76
Embassy
Releases
0
Foreign
Service
Advisories
0
Service
Advisories
0
Academic/
Think
Tank
9
Think
Tank
9
Podcasts
0
Videos
0
Social
Media
0
Business
Releases
3
Erudite Risk takes an all risks approach to intelligence reporting. We categorize key intelligence into one of 40 different risk intelligence categories.
The goal is to provide intelligence that allows decision makers to avoid being blindsided by what they may have missed, while informing them to make better decisions as well.
Risk Categories Reported on Today
Risk Category
Items Reported On
Accidents
2
Geopolitical Conflict and Disputes
5
Extreme Weather Events
2
North Korea
20
Supply Chain Issues
2
Strikes and Work Stoppages
1
Natural Disasters
1
Climate Change
1
Crime
8
IP Protection
3
Regulation
5
Cyber Attacks and Data Loss
1
Epidemics and Pandemics
1
Corporate Corruption or Fraud
1
Product Recalls
1
Privacy
1
Political Scandal or Corruption
1
Erudite Risk also includes operations categories so you can monitor the environment for better decision making. Everything is tied together--what happens in risk affects operations and what happens in the market impacts risk profiles.
We categorize key intelligence into one of 30 different operations intelligence categories.
Different roles and functions within the organization can monitor different key issue areas. HR may monitor employment, wages, regulations, labor and management relations, etc., while P&L leaders may monitor overall developing trends.
Operations Categories Reported on Today
Operations Category
Items Reported On
Employment
3
Asset Price Change
10
Mergers & Acquisitions
7
Economic Growth
2
Supply Chain Issues
3
Financial System Problems
2
Demographics
3
Real Estate
3
Inflation
1
Trade Issues and Numbers
2
Bizdev-Partnering
2
Bankruptcy-Insolvency
1
Tech Development/Adoption
1
Unemployment
1
Korea to use all resources to ensure medical services during holidays amid strike
Korea Times | English | News | Sept. 13, 2024 | Strikes and Work Stoppages
Korea has declared a special emergency medical response period for two weeks in September due to a strike by young doctors, which is straining the medical system. The government plans to utilize all available resources to ensure medical services and will temporarily increase doctors' fees from health insurance during the national holiday period next week. This includes a significant raise in examination fees for specialist doctors at regional emergency medical centers. To address staff shortages, military doctors are being deployed to assist in some hospitals. Thousands of trainee doctors, including interns and residents, have gone on strike in protest against a government plan to increase medical student admissions. As a result, hospitals have faced challenges, including turning away patients at emergency rooms and existing doctors dealing with heavier workloads. Approximately 8,000 medical clinics and hospitals will operate daily during Chuseok, a major holiday, an increase from about 3,600 during previous holidays. The Prime Minister advised the public to seek care at local clinics based on symptom severity.
‘요소 수입 다변화’ 맞나…반짝 줄었던 중국산 비중, 7월 62%로 다시 껑충
Is it 'diversification of element imports'? The proportion of Chinese products that had suddenly decreased jumped back up to 62% in July
Joongang Ilbo | Local Language | News | Sept. 13, 2024 | Supply Chain Issues
In July, the proportion of products imported from China increased to 62.3%, a notable rise from previous months, which featured lower percentages. The report highlights a significant shift, as China had accounted for 31.3% of imports earlier in the year, with declines in periods prior to July. Factors influencing this change include increasing imports from other regions and a general diversification of sources. Data from earlier months showed imports from China fluctuating between 60-70%, implying past efforts to diversify away from reliance on Chinese products. Current figures indicate varying reliance across different categories of goods.
Senior U.S., EU officials decry N. Korea's continued arms transfers to Russia for use in Ukraine
Yonhap | English | News | Sept. 13, 2024 | Geopolitical Conflict and Disputes
Senior officials from the United States and the European Union condemned North Korea's ongoing arms transfers to Russia, intended for use in Ukraine, during recent talks. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and EU External Action Service Secretary General Stefano Sannino expressed strong concerns over military support for Russia's aggression, particularly from North Korea, China, and Iran. Notably, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary Robert Koepcke reported that Russia has received over 16,500 containers of munitions from North Korea and launched more than 65 North Korean missiles into Ukraine. Both sides emphasized their determination to react appropriately to such military support and are working to disrupt arms transactions between North Korea and Russia, given the potential threat to security in both the Korean Peninsula and Europe.
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