S. Korea's antitrust chief heads to Fordham conference as bilateral talks with US FTC raise prospect of Coupang discussion

Fair Trade Commission Chairman Joo Byung-ki will attend the 53rd Annual Fordham Competition Law Institute Conference, hosted by Fordham University School of Law in New York, from Wednesday through Friday.

According to the Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday, the conference will bring together heads of competition authorities from around the world, including the United States, the EU, Germany, France and Italy.

Topics on the agenda include recent trends in monopolization and market dominance regulation, the line between competitor cooperation and collusion in the algorithmic age, competition law and labor markets, early outcomes of ex ante regulation, and shifting trends in merger enforcement.

Joo will also attend a closed-door meeting of competition authority heads on the first day of the conference. Participants are expected to discuss shared challenges facing regulators globally, including competition policy in a changing world economy and competition in AI-driven markets.

On the sidelines of the official program, Joo plans to hold bilateral meetings with the heads of major competition authorities. Bilateral talks are also being pursued with the US side, including Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, making it a question of whether issues involving Coupang Inc and other related matters will come up.

The Fair Trade Commission said it plans to "share key competition policy issues and enforcement trends from each country and discuss ways to strengthen cooperation among competition authorities."