Delayed decision-making by South Korea’s anti-trust watchdog on U.S.-based companies including Oracle Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. on charges of anti-competitive practices in the country is raising suspicion about meddling from Washington after a senior U.S. official was known to have made an unofficial visit to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).

According to a number of sources at the FTC on Wednesday, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Stefan Selig had a series of unofficial meetings with FTC Vice Chairman Kim Hack-hyun and vice trade minister Woo Tae-hee on Jan. 25. The anti-trade agency said that it was the first time for a U.S. commerce official who represents the interests of U.S. companies to visit the FTC.

Selig reportedly told the FTC official that “the Korean FTC was denying U.S. companies the right of reply or defense, which goes against the framework of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement” without specifically naming the companies.

But the visit itself could be interpreted as an act of pressure, said one FTC official declining to be named.

“Our legal system sufficiently allows the right of reply, but U.S. companies have been relaying complaints via the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea and the U.S. Trade Representative,” he said. “We can only suspect Washington was mounting pressure by sending the undersecretary of trade."

A conclusion on the Oracle case has been delayed for five months since the probe began in October. It would be the first antitrust case for Oracle if the Korean authority concludes that the California-based software giant has imposed local corporate customers to pay for all maintenance services including the latest versions of its database management system. A decision by the Korean authority could affect counterparts in other countries to look into the matter.

“(Selig) did not mention any details related to Oracle, and he merely spoke on the fundamental need of right of reply for U.S. companies in general context,” said FTC Vice Chairman Kim.

By Na Hyun-joon

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