South Korea's trade mediation agency said Sunday it resolved 120.7 billion won ($108.4 million) worth of unfair contracts through arbitration last year.

The Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency said it mediated 1,308 cases of unfair trade, subcontract work, franchise operation and retail business last year.

Through the agency's dispute settlement, smaller firms received compensation of 109.1 billion won last year.

When taking saved litigation costs into account, the value topped 120 billion won, representing a 4 percent on-year increase, it added.

The agency, a body of the country's corporate watchdog, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, was founded in 2007 to refer corporate disputes involving small and midsized firms to arbitration and seek swift resolutions.

It aims to tackle the massive concentration of market control in large conglomerates, which are sometimes blamed for wielding excessive power over smaller competitors and subcontractors. (Yonhap)