Joo Byung-gi, Gong Jeong-geo-rae (Chairman), stated regarding the Korea Fair Trade Commission’s regulations on contact with external parties, “We will review the rules and regulations of the Financial Services Commission and consult together on whether there are areas that need to be revised.”
Joo (Chairman) made this remark in response to a question from Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Min-gyu during the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee audit of the Korea Fair Trade Commission on the 12th, which called for easing the regulations on reporting contact with external parties.
“I am concerned that the ban on contact may cause the Korea Fair Trade Commission to create regulations that are disconnected from the field and the market,” Park (Rep.) said. “In particular, groundless suspicions that the rules merely fatten law firms’ profits have been spreading in some quarters.”
Indeed, some point out that the Korea Fair Trade Commission’s reporting requirements for contact with external parties have turned the agency into a ‘Rafah-like corridor.’ Although the intent is to report and then meet with former Korea Fair Trade Commission officials or industry figures, the mere fact of having met can invite suspicion from the National Assembly or the Board of Audit and Inspection, leading to an atmosphere in which contact itself is avoided. This is the backdrop for criticism that the Korea Fair Trade Commission is isolated from the market and fails to grasp the rapidly changing flow of the industrial ecosystem in a timely manner.
“We should consider creating exception provisions to expand communication with the market in the policy analysis field, excluding investigative work, similar to the Financial Services Commission, or reviewing ways to simplify procedures,” Park (Rep.) stated. “It is also time to consider abolishing the ban on contact in the fields of policy formulation and economic analysis, excluding investigative work.”
in ECONOMY
