미디어 인수·합병 심사제도와 규제순응성 평가 연구

The purpose of this study is to evaluate present Korean media M&A screening system and measures from the viewpoint of ‘obtaining regulatory compliance’ in the recent media acquisition and merger screening. To this end, the following research questions are set. First, what are the content and procedural problems of the media merger and acquisition screening system? Second, how do the content and procedural problems of the merger and acquisition review system affect regulatory compliance? As a result of the study, it was found that it was difficult for the media merger and acquisition screening system to secure ‘content justification’ due to conflicting interests and abstract screening criteria such as public interest. Therefore, it is desirable to secure regulatory compliance through the ‘procedural justification’ of the screening system. However, the current merger and acquisition screening system was characterized by overlapping regulations due to undifferentiated screening procedures distributed by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Communications Commission, and the Fair Trade Commission. In addition, the Fair Trade Commission, which is a general competition review agency, actually led the screening, and the operators failed to secure consent. Therefore, it is judged that it is necessary to improve the system such as systematization of mergers and acquisitions screening system, introduction of the ‘public interest test’, transparency of the examination process and guarantee of the participation of the parties.