경쟁법의 역외적용과 대응방안에 관한 연구

Abstract

It is a general tendency to implement the so-called extraterritorial application of competition law in the global market. There is not any difference, regarding this tendency, between the United States and the European countries which have been sensitive to competition issues for several centuries, and Japan and China which are our daily partners in trading. Furthermore, our government itself has prepared similar rules handling the extraterritorial application. Because of this tough policy, our great firms have gotten various sanctions from American and European governments, and, in some cases, staff members of those firms have been imprisoned in foreign correctional institutions. What it makes worse is that, if one company violates any competition law in a certain nation, other nations will target that company and impose, through a thorough investigation of its branches and affiliates, multiple sanctions including the triple damages compensation orders. More importantly, the principle of extraterritorial application is not just limited to the competition and international trade lawsuits, but applicable to nearly all the disputes which normally occur in the global level under the name of Intellectual Property, Securities Transaction, and Corporate Income Tax. Thus, our companies will be more and more vulnerable to the international governance, and this will negatively affect to our general profitability and to our economic reliance and development. All the companies need to be prepared to this change in the global market and try to response effectively to various sorts of disputes. Since international disputes cannot be easily settled by the private companies, the government and the authorities should support them in overcoming this obstacle and prepare more advanced systems with regard to competition law and policy.