The Korea Fair Trade Commission (“KFTC”) announced the appointment, effective as of July 31, 2023, of Mr. Seong-gwon Yook, the Director General of the Anti-Monopoly Investigation Bureau, as the new Secretary General for Policy, and of Mr. Sang Min Song, who held the position of Secretary General for Policy, as the new Secretary General for Investigation.
 
Mr. Yook, the new Secretary General for Policy, holds an LL.B. from Seoul National University, an LL.M. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, and an M.A. in public policy from the Korea Development Institute’s School of Public Policy and Management. Since joining public service in 1996, Mr. Yook has served in various capacities at the KFTC including the following: Director of the Bid-Rigging Investigation Division, acting Director of the Bid-Rigging Investigation Division, Director of the Business Group Policy Division, Spokesperson, Director General of the Business Trade Policy Bureau, Director General of the Business Group Bureau, Director General of the Market Structure Policy Bureau, and most recently, Director General of the Anti-Monopoly Investigation Bureau. In 2022, he completed a course on high-level policy at the National Human Resources Development Institute as part of the KFTC’s external training program.
 
Mr. Song, the new Secretary General for Investigation, holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Seoul National University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in econometrics from the University of Warwick. Mr. Song joined public service in 1994 and has also served in various capacities at the KFTC including the following: Director of the Economic Analysis Division, Director of the Knowledge Industry Competition Division, Director of the Anti-Monopoly Division for the Service Industry, Director of the M&A Division, Director of the Anti-Monopoly Division, Director for Planning and Budget, Director of the Competition Policy Division, Director General of the Anti-Monopoly Investigation Bureau, Director General of the Competition Policy Bureau, and most recently, Secretary General for Policy. From 2010 to 2013, he was seconded to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
 
According to the press release announcing the appointments, Mr. Yook, during his term as Director General of the Anti-Monopoly Investigation Bureau, oversaw the KFTC’s investigation into unfair trade practices, labeling and advertising, and e-commerce transactions. Most notably, Mr. Yook led the case that resulted in the KFTC imposing sanctions against Korea’s three major telecommunications companies for engaging in unfair labeling and advertising of their 5G services. As Director General of the Market Structure Policy Bureau, Mr. Yook, played a key role in establishing the KFTC’s policy for improving monopolistic market structures and helped improve anti-competitive systems and behaviors by investigating major merger cases and conducting economic analyses. Further, as Director General of the Business Group Bureau, Mr. Yook helped to prevent unfair economic concentration by detecting and correcting the unfair provision of support to affiliates by large business groups and encouraged large business groups in industries with a high level of internal transactions to outsource work (e.g., cafeteria and meal services, logistics, and IT services).
 
The press release also notes that Mr. Song, while serving as the first Secretary General for Investigation, supervised all aspects of the KFTC’s policies for creating a market environment that promotes innovation and competition since the KFTC’s Secretariat was divided into the policy section and investigation section. Previously, as Director General of the Competition Policy Bureau, Mr. Song set key policy tasks and prepared the KFTC’s annual enforcement plans, including a plan to improve the KFTC’s law enforcement system. As Director General of the Anti-Monopoly Investigation Bureau, Mr. Song investigated global technology companies for abuse of market dominance, unfair trade practices and patent abuse.