South Korea’s anti-trust watchdog will introduce a fresh lobbying and compliance rule to avoid improper solicitations from lobbyists by allowing only prior registered persons at designated conglomerates and law firms to contact or visit its decision-making officials. The new system will go effective next year after detailed regulations are drafted.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said on Tuesday that persons subject to the registration to be required every six months include lawyers and certified public accountants with a history of dealing with FTC cases at 28 operating law firms regulated by the Public Service Ethics Act and employees responsible for FTC affairs at 1,980 companies affiliated with 57 conglomerates. Ex-FTC officials responsible for FTC affairs at these law firms or companies are also subject to prior registration.

Those registered persons are prohibited to make an illegal request related to an FTC case, which could change the direction of how a case is handled. They are not allowed to collect investigation plans or other confidential information from FTC employees and to meet FTC officials other than those they are scheduled to visit.

Talks made in the office between FTC employees and those registered officials should be reported to the FTC’s audit bureau within five days. Communications through electronic systems are also subject to the report. Violators of the rule will be prevented from contacting FTC officials for a year.

Critics say the rule is excluding officials at Cheong Wa Dae, Korea’s presidential offices, and lawmakers from the registration requirement despite the fact that most improper requests had come from higher-level authorities in the past. The FTC has been under fire for its decision change or unfair conclusions after pressure from the presidential office or other influential officials with regards to its review on stock divestiture in the Samsung C&T-Cheil Industries merger and business combination between CJ Hello Vision and SK Telecom.

By Seok Min-soo and Minu Kim

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]