Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
Antitrust watchdog in policy limbo as gov’t delays leadership reshuffle
Headquarters of the Fair Trade Commission at Government Complex Sejong / Yonhap
By Lee Min-hyung
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) remains in limbo in its future policy direction, as the government continues to delay the nomination of its new chief.
The delayed leadership reshuffle makes it harder for the antitrust watchdog to handle a series of pending issues, such as the regulation of U.S. tech firms, at a critical time when Korea and the United States are engaged in high-stakes trade talks.
Even though President Lee Jae Myung took office in early June, there has been no signs of a leadership change at the FTC.
This stands in contrast with other economy-related authorities — most of which have already completed the personnel appointments in line with the Lee administration’s policy agenda.
By comparison, under the former Moon Jae-in administration, it took only a week to nominate an FTC chairman following Moon's inauguration in 2017.
At that time, the FTC wielded strong influence across the local business landscape, as the authority played a key role in conglomerate reform in tandem with the former Moon administration.
The current situation raises concerns over whether the FTC will be able to regain its luster under the incumbent administration, as the delayed leadership change signals that the watchdog is pushed down the pecking order among other government authorities.
Earlier, President Lee ordered ranking government officials to come up with specific measures to increase the FTC's workforce two days after he took office. His remarks were interpreted as a sign that Lee would push for the swift passage of the Online Platform Act, which is intended to regulate a group of market-dominant platform firms, including those from the U.S.
However, the plan has since hit a snag, as Korea and the U.S. have shown little sign of progress in their ongoing tariff negotiations. The U.S., for its part, has also expressed concerns over the regulation.
“Lawmakers will resume negotiations on the platform act sometime after Aug. 1, as the issue is feared to become a stumbling block in our current trade talks with the U.S.,” Rep. Kang Jun-hyun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea recently told reporters.
Industry officials said the government is likely to delay the nomination for the FTC until Seoul and Washington reach a trade agreement.
“The government appears to consider it risky to change the leader for the FTC, fearing that this may send misleading messages to the U.S. at a crucial time when Korea has to walk on eggshells with the U.S. due to the tariff negotiations,” an industry official said.