韓國 獨占規制法의 域外適用 - 航空貨物 國際cartel 事件을 中心으로 -

In according to the general principle of international jurisdiction, the national law of each country can be applied in the territory of each country. The extraterritorial enforcement of law can be tolerated only in the exception. It’s application is only extended into another country’s territory when it can be justified objectively. The American competition authorities permit the application of US competition law to foreign actors where the latter’s conduct could be seen to have a ‘direct, substantial and reasonably foreseeable’ effect on US commerce. The extraterritorial application of competition law has been also admitted in EU and other advanced countries. In Korea, Fair Trade Commission began to apply the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act to foreign actors in 2002. The Law adopted the provision which allows the extraterritorial application through its amendment in 2004. Seoul High Court also admitted the extraterritorial application of competition law in 2004 and the Supreme Court confirmed the extraterritorial application in 2006. Nowadays, the Korean FTC tends to extend more actively the extraterritorial application of competition law. However it is very controversial that KFTC tends to apply the Korean Anti-monopoly act to foreign actors without careful test of ‘direct, substantial and reasonably foreseeable’ effect on Korean commerce. In the international cargo cartel cases in 2010, KFTC applied also the Korean Anti-monopoly law to foreign cargo companies without careful check of ‘direct, substantial and reasonably foreseeable’ effect. These cases are now pending at the Seoul High Court. The author of this article made criticism to the current tendency of KFTC in the extraterritorial application and suggests for KFTC to review its conditions more carefully in the future.