IANS | 26 Mar, 2024
South Korea’s antitrust regulator, on Monday, said that it will
launch a study into the e-commerce sector to analyse the market
structure and check competition issues as part of efforts to ensure fair
business practices amid a growing number of online shopping consumers.
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said that the four-week
preliminary market research will begin from Tuesday to collect opinions
from stakeholders and relevant associations, as well as from consumers,
and to review similar research conducted by the European Union, Britain
and Australia, Yonhap news agency reported.
The regulator will
then set details of research subjects and methods, and carry out an
inquiry into major e-commerce operators at home and abroad for issuing a
report by the end of this year.
"The e-commerce market is closely
linked to the everyday lives of people, and the market and business
circumstances are changing fast so that in-depth analysis is needed,"
the FTC said.
"The growing dependence on a handful of operators
has raised concerns about the fairness of business practices and the
possibility of consumer damage. Such an in-depth market study will help
us devise preemptive responses to competition and innovation issues," it
added.
The value of online shopping transactions has risen
recently from 190.2 trillion won ($141.61 billion) in 2021 to 209.9
trillion won in 2022, and further to over 227.3 trillion won last year,
the report said.
