[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) is set to expand its workforce by approximately 150 employees next year, with plans to establish two new divisions: the Subcontracting Bureau and the Franchise & Distribution Bureau.



According to government sources on September 1, the KFTC is in discussions with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Economy and Finance to expand its current headcount of 647 (as of February) by around 20% to roughly 800.



The new bureaus will consolidate tasks that are currently dispersed across multiple departments. Subcontracting-related work, handled by the Corporate Transaction Policy Division, Subcontracting Investigation Division, and Technology Misappropriation Investigation Division, will be unified under the new Subcontracting Bureau. Similarly, the Franchise & Distribution Bureau will oversee policies and enforcement previously divided among the Franchise Policy Division, Franchise Investigation Team, and Distribution Agency Policy Division.



This restructuring is expected to improve policy responsiveness and enforcement. “Problems identified during investigations will be more swiftly reflected in policymaking, while issues raised in policy discussions can more directly lead to investigations,” a KFTC official said.



The commission had also considered creating dedicated Economic Analysis and Platform bureaus, but decided to prioritize staff increases within existing organizations. The Economic Analysis Division may instead be split into two units to enhance its role in proving anti-competitive effects in abuse of dominance and merger reviews.



The move may also strengthen the Corporate Group Bureau, which monitors unfair internal transactions among conglomerates. KFTC chair nominee Joo Byung-ki has recently emphasized that internal dealings by large business groups hinder innovation, signaling greater scrutiny in this area.

 

 

 

[ⓒ 알파경제. 무단전재-재배포 금지]