Ju Biung-ghi Chairperson of the Fair Trade Commission said on the 30th that the agency would "actively review" whether Coupang can be deemed a monopolistic operator (market-dominant operator).
The Chairperson appeared at the National Assembly's Science. ICT. Broadcasting. and Communications Committee hearing on "the Coupang breach incident and personal data leak" that day and stated accordingly, "Coupang's market share has risen considerably over the past five years."
A market-dominant operator is designated when a single company's market share is 50% or higher, or when the combined market share of three companies is 75% or higher. Beyond these requirements, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) can determine that certain corporations are market-dominant operators by considering the overall circumstances.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) reportedly determined last year, while sanctioning Coupang for "self-preferencing" such as artificially placing its private-label (PB) products at the top of its website, that Coupang was not a market-dominant operator. If, as the Chairperson said, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) designates Coupang as a market-dominant operator, the judgment would change in a year. If the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) finds a company to be a market-dominant operator, it can impose a penalty surcharge of up to 6% of sales, resulting in stronger sanctions than otherwise.
That day, the Chairperson said, "In the tying case, the review report has been prepared and deliberations are scheduled to take place soon."