Can South Korea's anti-monopoly succeed under the chaebol separation?

On June 2, local time, South Korea's antitrust regulator, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, said that it had decided to impose a total of 10.46 billion won, or about 55 million yuan, on 12 South Korean companies for colluding to manipulate the bidding price of a semiconductor monitoring system from Samsung.

In fact, successive governments in South Korea have been committed to carrying out anti-monopoly activities against South Korea's major chaebols. However, in this chaebol-dominated South Korea, class has become inherentized, and they have a monopoly in almost every field you can think of.

Under such circumstances, can South Korea's anti-monopoly be carried out, and can it change the current situation of South Korea's economy and politics being monopolized by big chaebols, and will it be effective?

In fact, in recent years, in the face of the impact of major business giants on people's lives, a global anti-monopoly upsurge has been set off, on the one hand, it can limit the disorderly expansion of the scientific and technological oligopoly, balance market competition, and on the other hand, it will guide scientific and technological innovation and create people's livelihood and well-being for the harmonious development of mankind.

Judging from the situation in South Korea, at least since 2021, there has also been an anti-monopoly boom in the country. From the perspective of foreign policy, Apple, Google, domestic e-commerce giant Coupang, social networking giant Naver, Internet giant Kakao, the South Korean government has introduced policies and regulations to crack down on it. From the perspective of South Korean local enterprises, the South Korean government has increased its vigilance and is ready to take measures against the technology giants that have risen in South Korea in recent years.

According to public information, on September 14, 2021, South Korean antitrust organizations issued a sky-high fine of at least 207.4 billion won to Google for allegedly blocking smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung from using other operating systems. This penalty became the most severe anti-monopoly penalty in South Korea's history. South Korea also became the first country to require Apple and Google to accept alternative payment systems in their app stores.

In April 2023, South Korea's Supreme Court rejected the appeal of U.S. chip giant Qualcomm Inc. and two of its subsidiaries, upholding a record fine of 1.03 trillion won imposed on them by South Korea's antitrust regulator. The fine was imposed because Qualcomm abused its dominant position in the smartphone market.

It is reported that this punishment against Qualcomm is the first time since its establishment in 1981 that South Korean regulatory authorities have imposed fines exceeding 1 trillion Korean won in a single case. In 2009, the Fair Trade Commission of South Korea fined Qualcomm 27.23 billion Korean won for abusing its dominant market position in South Korea.

In September 2023, the South Korean antitrust agency determined that the unfair agreement signed by American chip giant Broadcom, which coerced Samsung into signing, had engaged in unfair business practices and resulted in a penalty of 19.1 billion Korean won. South Korean industry experts have also angrily criticized American companies for acting recklessly and lacking respect for Korean companies.

However, South Korea rarely or finds it difficult to take action against its own local conglomerates such as Samsung and LG. These large enterprise groups, which occupy an important position in the Korean economy, play an important role in the development of the Korean economy.

Under the policy tilt of the South Korean government, these enterprises have expanded recklessly and developed into behemoths that control the lifeline of South Korea. They have kidnapped the economy, leaving the South Korean government and people in a dilemma. They have a huge industrial chain and capital strength, and have a tendency to monopolize or monopolize in various industries.

Due to its enormous influence in the South Korean economy, these large conglomerates represented by Samsung can overshadow the situation. They only pursue short-term benefits and personal success, while ignoring the overall long-term development of South Korea. This lack of sense of responsibility and vision will ultimately bring enormous risks and challenges to the country.

These chaebol families monopolize the domestic market, making it difficult for other small and medium-sized enterprises to establish themselves, affecting the development of the South Korean economy, and even hindering the direction of politics. This puts ordinary people in great difficulties in employment and social progress, leading to the solidification of social classes in South Korea, the widening wealth gap, and increasingly prominent social contradictions. If the South Korean government can take action against these big conglomerates, antitrust measures can truly see hope and results.