Korea Fair Trade Commission chief to attend ICN annual meeting in Manila

The Fair Trade Commission said Tuesday that Chairman Joo Byung-ki will attend the 25th International Competition Network annual conference, to be held in Manila from May 6-8.

Hosted by the Philippine Competition Commission, the meeting is expected to focus on strategic planning and priority-setting; responses to algorithm-driven collusion in the digital environment; merger policy amid shifting economic conditions; balancing effectiveness and predictability in enforcement against unilateral conduct; and new approaches to competition advocacy.

Joo will attend a plenary session on May 6 on strategic planning and priority-setting to build agile, forward-looking competition authorities. The commission said he plans to meet with the heads of competition agencies from Greece, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Kenya and Poland to share how each country views key challenges and how they are responding.

The commission said Joo will also present its efforts to strengthen enforcement tools, including reforms to Korea’s administrative fine system and easing criminal penalties. He plans to highlight steps to expand judicial remedies, including introducing a Korean-style evidence-disclosure system and widening the scope of injunctions available through consumer class actions and consumer group lawsuits, to improve the effectiveness of relief for 피해 victims.

The commission said Joo will also seek to deepen international cooperation through bilateral talks during the conference with senior officials from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Italy’s competition authority and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition. It said he will sign a memorandum of understanding with Philippine authorities to strengthen cooperation on competition-law enforcement and will meet with South Korean businesspeople operating locally to hear their concerns.

“This visit will be a meaningful opportunity to discuss response directions with competition agency chiefs worldwide at a time when advances in digital technologies such as artificial intelligence are rapidly reshaping the competitive landscape,” Joo said.