South Korea’s antitrust watchdog will intensify its efforts to enforce laws designed to crack down on unfair business practices, including price rigging, its head said.

During a meeting with reporters on Friday, Fair Trade Commission chairman Noh Dae-lae said that his agency will muster all of its capacity to “produce results” in its drive to establish a fair business environment. His comments were embargoed until Sunday afternoon.

“It goes without saying that pushing to improve systems and placing new things in laws is for the sake of enforcement,” Noh said. “Going forward, (we) will strengthen our enforcement power and also focus our capacity to produce results.”

The FTC has been in the vanguard of the government’s drive to achieve “economic democratization” which calls for reining in the economic power of family-owned conglomerates and sharing wealth with smaller firms.

To that end, the government has been pushing to adopt diverse law bills aimed at punishing large conglomerates for being involved in unfair business activities including those preying on small companies.

Imposing taxes on intra-group transaction is one of FTC’s key policies.

Intra-group deals are criticized for sidelining smaller companies in bidding processes and also cited as a secret measure employed by owners of conglomerates to transfer their wealth to their family members without paying due taxes.

Noh said that the FTC “has done everything it can” in connection with economic democratization. (Yonhap News)