By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
South Korea’s antitrust regulator has extended its investigation into major Internet portal companies until next week, drawing comment as to whether it will expand the ongoing probe into alleged business irregularities.
Sources at the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Wednesday that the corporate regulator has prolonged its investigation into the major portal sites, originally due to be completed by the end of last month, until the end of next week.
``We first planned to conclude our investigation by June and start follow up measures this month,’’ an FTC official said on condition of anonymity. ``But we decided to do some more research since we needed more time to consolidate (the on-site investigation).’’
Since May 9, the FTC has been investigating operators of the nation’s six largest portal sites -- NHN (Naver), Daum Communications, SK Communications, Yahoo! Korea, Empas and KTH -- to check if they have engaged in any irregular business practices.
FTC Chairman Kwon Oh-seung said last month his organization collected some circumstantial evidence that the portal site operators have colluded to fix prices, made improper use of their monopolistic status, treated subcontractors unfairly and put into practice unfair terms.
``We have obtained circumstantial evidence of such illicit business practices and are now trying to collect more concrete evidence,’’ he said last month.
FTC officials indicated the agency might have to inquire into some contents providers and other related online business firms and organizations to find out the truth behind various suspicions surrounding the major portal sites.