Fair Trade Commission[사진=연합뉴스]
It was confirmed that Samsung had the most contact with Fair Trade Commission employees this year.
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According to the audit data submitted by the Fair Trade Commission to Rep. Yoon Chang-hyeon, a member of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee on the 21st, Samsung had contacted the Fair Trade Commission 50 times from January to August of this year. This means that among the top 15 conglomerates, they have met the FTC the most. Samsung also ranked first in the number of contacts with the Fair Trade Commission in 2018 and 2020.
Following Samsung, the business groups that have been in contact with the Fair Trade Commission a lot are Lotte and SK. Lotte, with 40 contacts, ranked second, and SK, with 37 contacts, ranked third. KT (33 episodes) and LG (31 episodes) placed 4th and 5th, respectively.
Coupang has seen a sharp increase in the number of contacts with FTC employees this year. From January to August, Coupang made 20 contact with the Fair Trade Commission and ranked sixth. For the first time since 2018, it is listed in the top 15 contacted business groups. Coupang’s frequent contact with the Fair Trade Commission is because it was investigated by the Fair Trade Commission on allegations of abuse of suppliers. Last month, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a fine of 3.297 billion won on Coupang for violating a power supply company.
GS, CJ, Hyundai Department Store, Shinsegae, Hyosung, Hanwha, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Hyundai Motor Company, Hanjin Heavy Industries, and Hyundai Heavy Industries ranked 7th to 15th.
Among the law firms representing corporate litigation, Kim & Chang Law Office has been in contact with the Fair Trade Commission 482 times. If you simply calculate it, it means that you met or talked to an FTC official twice a day. Kim & Chang accounted for only 20% of contact with other famous law firms, such as Pacific Law Firm and Gwangjang. Law Firm Pacific 129 times, Gwangjang 123 times, Hwawoo 120 times, Yulchon 114 times, etc.
Fair Trade Commission Chairman Cho Seong-wook has been in contact with outsiders for the past eight months this year through outside activities such as enquiries about laws and lectures. External contact related to legal enquiries was Kim Jae-shin, vice chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, once, 18 times at the director level, and 213 times under the head of the department. Outside activities such as lectures were 3 times for the vice chairperson, 2 times for the secretary general, 4 times for the standing committee, 10 times for the director level, and 15 times for the section manager and below.
In his inaugural address in September 2019, Fair Trade Commission Chairman Cho Seong-wook said, “In order for the Fair Trade Commission to fulfill its original role as a protector of the market economy, public trust must be supported.” He also emphasized, “As an FTC employee, please pay special attention to not only a high level of professionalism and fairness, but also a higher level of integrity than any other ministries.”
In addition, the number of FTC employees contacting outsiders last year stood at 3,059. It increased from 2851 cases in 2018 to 5420 cases in 2019 and then decreased. From this year to August this year, the total number of contacts was 2294.
FTC public officials are △employees in charge of the Fair Trade Commission work in the corporate group subject to disclosure △legal assistants such as lawyers who work for law firms subject to employment screening under the Public Service Ethics Act △professional advisers from the Fair Trade Commission who have been employed by the corporate group or law firm; In case of contact via text message, etc., it should be reported to the audit officer. This is because of the ‘External Contact Management Regulations’, which have been in effect since January 2018 to enhance the fairness and transparency of the case handling process. However, meeting to investigate the case is excluded.
Rep. Yoon said, “In the aftermath of Corona 19, the total number of external contacts by the FTC staff decreased significantly last year, and this year it is increasing again.” He continued, “For transparent and fair handling of cases, all contact records of employees should be reported, but the total amount of communication using telephone or video conferencing should be kept constant in order to improve the quality of the investigation.”
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