On November 22, 2012, the ratified bill of KOR-US FTA passed the Assembly plenary session and the Agreement took effect on March 15, 2012. Before the effectuation of KOR-US FTA, KOR-EU FTA took effect on July 1, 2011. Now Korea became the only country in Asia to execute FTA with U.S.A. and EU, who are the largest economic bloc in the world. Hence, open-door policy and competition will even more accelerate in future and the fundamental law of free market, the Competition Policy, will be even more important and crucial. Therefore, it is necessary to review what types of issues are regulated under the Competition Chapter and how such regulations affect the Competition Policy in Korea.
The Competition Chapter of KOR-US FTA is composed of total 9 articles and the details could be divided into relevant matters of enforcement of a competition policy, designated monopoly/state enterprise and consumer protection. For the enforcement of a competition policy, it regulates the right of defense of person on trial to be guaranteed in the hearing process, state enterprise, Consent Resolution procedural transparency, consent decision or commitment decision. Under designated monopoly and state enterprise related articles, the obligations of designated monopoly and state enterprise are listed. Lastly, the articles related to consumer protection regulates introduction of cooperative provisions related to consumer rights for prompt settlement of consumer problem between countries.
In accordance with the articles above, Korea is now obligated to introduce Consent Resolution due to execution of legislation and the revised Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act was passed which set up the Consent Resolution on the same day when the ratified bill of KOR-US FTA passed the Assembly plenary session and became effective on December 2, 2012. The consent Resolution allows prompt conclusion of a case related to a competition policy, where an entrepreneur suggests an administrative policy and the competitive authority approves the legitimacy of such policy without reviewing any illegality of it.
Along with the execution of KOR-US FTA, now Korea is facing the generation of open-door policy and competition. Therefore, it is crucial to review thoroughly that what matters are regulated under the competition chapter of KOR-US FTA (Chapter 16), and discuss the future direction of Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act and Competition Policy in Korea. It is expected that Consent Resolution will play a key role in the procedure of law enforcement by Fair Trade Commission as a newly introduced system in Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act; hence, it should be examined in details and would like to present a proposal for activation of Consent Resolution.