The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) started to initiate sanctions against Google after more than 2 years and 9 months of initiating an ex officio investigation against Google for allegedly obstructing competitors in the domestic App market in Korea.
The Fair Trade Commission started to initiate sanctions against Google for allegedly obstructing competitors in the domestic application market in Korea.
On January 25, according to industry sources, the Korea Fair Trade Commission sent a review report (equivalent to a prosecutorial indictment) to Google last week against Google for allegedly hindering the development of Onestore and other domestic app markets in Korea. The Fair Board launched an investigation against Google for forcing game apps of Korean game companies such as NC, NEXON, and Netrock to be available only exclusively in Google App Store since 2016.
The Fair Board found that Google allegedly used its dominant position in the app market to force Korean game companies to exclusively launch their apps on the Google App Store. The review report recorded Google’s suspicion of violating the Antitrust and Fair Trade Related Act (the “Fair Trade Act”) and the opinion of imposing penalties such as fines against Google. In this regard, the relevant person of the Fair Trade Commission said, “It is inconvenient to disclose the specific amount of fines and other penalties.” After receiving the review report, Google will be required to respond, after which the Fair Board will hold a plenary session (equivalent to a court decision) to decide whether to impose sanctions on Google and the strength of the sanctions.
In addition, it is expected that the Fairness Commission will also impose a number of sanctions on Google. The Commission is currently investigating whether it is illegal for Google to force content on its app store to use the in-app payment system and to deduct a mandatory 30% fee. Previously, the Fairness Commission had sent a review report to Google in November last year on suspicions that Google was forcing cell phone manufacturers to carry the company’s Android operating system and crowding out competitors.
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