Joo Byung-ki, chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, said the agency will draw up guidelines to assess the appropriate level of trademark royalties paid between affiliates of large business groups.
Speaking at a parliamentary audit held by the National Policy Committee at the National Assembly on the 12th, Joo said the FTC is "investigating whether there was improper intervention, such as coercion, in cases where fees were raised excessively," adding that the agency is "preparing standard guidelines for trademark use." Korean holding companies collect as much as several hundred billion won a year in trademark income from their subsidiaries, but the FTC views the absence of clear standards as a risk that could lead to harm for consumers and shareholders.
Coupang's refusal of an on-site inspection also came under scrutiny. Joo warned that if FTC investigations are halted, it could become difficult to identify and sanction legal violations in a timely manner, while pledging to "strengthen the fairness of investigative procedures" so that corporate operations are not disrupted. Asked about a recent surge in dispute mediation cases involving small and micro businesses and Coupang, he said Coupang "should fulfill its social responsibility commensurate with its growth and become a company that protects the rights of weaker counterparts."
On past remarks in which he criticized chaebol and large companies for exploiting South Korea, Joo said, "My wording may have been excessive, but I still think so." He also defended the agency's record on collusion cases this year, in which the FTC imposed 40% of global cartel fines totaling $3.3 billion, saying he does "not think it is excessive."
At the parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the cost and timeline for building a power grid for the Honam semiconductor cluster were at issue. Kim Dong-cheol, president of KEPCO, said "a total of 1.4 trillion won is needed for the first phase of power supply facilities," adding that "KEPCO's share is less than 20%, with Samsung and SK hynix set to cover the rest." Under the special semiconductor law, however, the central and local governments can fund 50% to 100% of infrastructure costs, so the actual burden on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix could vary depending on the scale of government support.
The feasibility of the grid construction schedule also drew questions. For the Honam semiconductor industrial complex to begin initial fab operations in early 2029, 20 to 25 kilometers of 345-kilovolt transmission facilities must be built within two to three years, but such projects typically take nine years by KEPCO's standards. Nine comparable 345-kilovolt underground line projects completed since 2016 took an average of 91 months.
Kim said that "in the past, tunneling underground was widely used and took a long time, but this time we can shorten the construction period by using open-cut methods and prefabricated power conduits."