The Korea Fair Trade Commission (“KFTC”) appointed, effective on January 27, 2025, Mr. Dong-il Nam, the current Secretary General for Policy, as one of three Standing Commissioners of the KFTC for a term of three years, and Mr. Seong-uk Yu, currently a Standing Commissioner, as the new Secretary General for Policy.

Mr. Nam, the new Standing Commissioner, holds an LL.B. from Kyungpook National University Law School and an M.A. in engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (“KAIST”). Mr. Nam joined public service in 1997 and has served in various capacities at the KFTC, including Spokesperson, Director General of the Consumer Policy Bureau, Director General of the Competition Policy Bureau, and most recently, Secretary General for Policy. From 2012 to 2013, he was seconded to a US law firm as part of the KFTC’s external training program.
 

• Mr. Nam has extensive experience and expertise in all of the KFTC’s major policy areas. Recently, he has proactively implemented policies that can have a direct impact on the livelihoods of SMEs and small business owners, including by working to enact a new Fair Trade Dispute Resolution Act, which will provide a new avenue for SMEs and small business owners to seek relief for damages under an improved dispute resolution system.
   

• Mr. Nam, who is well-respected among his peers at the KFTC for his pragmatic and open-minded approach to his work, outgoing personality, and his extensive experience at the KFTC, including as the KFTC’s Spokesperson, Director for Planning & Budget and Director of the Administration Division, is regarded as the best fit at this time to serve as the KFTC’s Secretary General for Policy, a position that requires internal and external communication skills.
   

Mr. Yu, the new Secretary General for Investigation, holds an LL.B. from Seoul National University College of Law and an LL.M. from Fordham University School of Law. Since joining public service in 1996, Mr. Yu served in various capacities at the KFTC, including Distribution Policy Officer, Director General of the Anti-Monopoly Investigation Bureau, Director General of the Business Group Monitoring Bureau, and most recently, a Standing Commissioner. Between 2007 and 2008, Mr. Yu was seconded to a US law firm as part of the KFTC’s external training program, and in 2015, he was seconded to serve for a year at the Supreme Court of Korea. Mr. Yu is also a member of the New York bar.

Mr. Yu, as Director General of the Business Group Monitoring Bureau, was involved in the processing of a number of notable cases, including the following:
 

• Under his leadership, the KFTC recently imposed sanctions (including an administrative fine of about KRW 24.5 billion) against a major food distribution and service company, which is part of a Korean conglomerate group, for providing unfair support to its affiliates on a large scale in the form of human resources. By imposing strict sanctions, the KFTC helped protect the rightful profits of small business owners and restore fair trade order in the relevant market.
   

• Mr. Yu also oversaw the KFTC’s decision to impose sanctions (including an administrative fine of about KRW 11.62 billion and criminal referral) against another conglomerate group for unfair provision of support among affiliates in the process of establishing a foundation for succession of management within the owner family. The conduct took place secretively for many years in the construction parts industry, which is closely related to consumers’ livelihood. This was the first case in which the KFTC used an economic analysis in the process of determining the presumed arm’s length price of a product.
   

Mr. Yu, as Director General of the Anti-Monopoly Investigation Bureau, is also recognized for his contribution to the stabilization of consumers’ livelihood by sanctioning a major mobility platform company in the taxi-hailing market (for self-preferencing its own taxi franchise) for its abuse of dominance, and promoted competition in monopolized markets by establishing a new set of guidelines for reviewing abuse of market dominance by online platform operators.

Within the KFTC, Mr. Yu is highly respected among his peers as a competent manager who proactively communicates with members of his team from the beginning of a case when setting the direction of how they would be processing the case, and works on achieving the most reasonable results. As a Standing Commissioner, Mr. Yu is expected to help further enhance the quality of the KFTC’s decisions and regulatory system based on his extensive experience and expertise in the practice and theory of competition law, which he has gained through his career at the KFTC processing cases and issuing decisions and his academic background in the legal studies, as well as during a secondment at the Supreme Court of Korea.