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South Korea: Court upholds FTC’s department store fines

By  |  December 8, 2014

An appellate court Monday upheld South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission’s decision to fine Lotte Department Store for abusing its market dominance and bullying subcontractors, reports say.

The Seoul High Court denied Lotte’s challenge of the sanctions, issued by the FTC after authorities found the department store chain to have unfairly forced some suppliers to pay higher royalties and other fees, and by pressuring its suppliers to rival each other in sales performance.

A $4 million fine was imposed on the company, and that fine was upheld Monday despite Lotte’s fight to have it dismissed.

According to reports, the FTC has recently tackled unfair business practices against suppliers, warning companies against unreasonable manufacturing price cuts, stealing technology and undocumented product orders.

Full content: Korea Herald

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