Recent Proposed Amendment to Korea’s Competition Laws

Keum Seok Oh, Seong Un Yun and Rosa B. Kim

On February 6 the Korean government issued a draft amendment to the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (MRFTA), Korea’s general competition statute. Certain of the key changes proposed may be of particular interest to foreign companies that are intending to commence or are currently doing business in Korea.

To simplify business group structures and to encourage the use of holding companies, certain requirements for share ownership in subsidiaries are eased under the amendment to the MRFTA, although it has yet to be approved by the National Assembly and will likely be subject to substantive change before it becomes law. Under the proposed amendment,