[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s antitrust watchdog on July 21 said it investigated Google on allegations that the firm forced smartphone-makers to use its operating system.

The Fair Trade Commission said it visited Google’s local headquarters in southern Seoul last week, two years after the watchdog acquitted it of the same charge.

Following a 2-year investigation, the FTC acquitted Google of disturbing fair market competition by obliging mobile phone makers to preload its Android operating system.

The FTC had at the time dismissed the charges, saying that Google’s preload requirement does not restrict market competition.

Industry sources said the FTC began looking into the allegations again after the European Union brought charges against Google for similar anticompetitive behavior earlier this year.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)