Qualcomm Holds Heated Debate on Fine of 1.3 Trillion Won

QUALCOMM, a multinational telecommunication equipment maker, held a heated debate with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in at a hearing for the suspension of execution which is a preliminary stage before a lawsuit against the government's correction order. Earlier, the government issued a correction order demanding that Qualcomm enjoying a global telecom equipment monopoly correct their unfair licensing contracts with Korean mobile phone manufacturers.

The 7th Administrative Division of the Seoul High Court held a public hearing about a suspension of execution case against the commission through which Qualcomm said, “We ask the court to delay the correction measure for a limited period of time until the ruling is made about our administrative litigation against the correction order.

Qualcomm appealed that if the correction order is implemented immediately, the company will suffer from "irreparable damage." The company requested the court to wait until the final judgment of the case because there is concern over a possibility that they will not be able to catch the opportunity to check whether or not the FTC’s measures are right by way of a lawsuit. The court will make a ruling on the suspension of execution after the hearing and notify both sides of the results.  

Earlier, the FTC imposed a fine of up to 1.03 trillion won (US$927 million), the highest fine-ever, on Qualcomm Inc., Qualcomm Technology Inc. and Qualcomm CDMA Technology Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. in December of last year. The FTC also gave them a correction order to prohibit unfair contracts.

The FTC ruled that Qualcomm, a global monopoly in the fields of telecom modem chipsets and telecommunication technologies forced unfair licensing contracts with mobile phone makers such as Samsung Electronics and Apple by using its advantage as a supplier of exclusive chips. In protest against the FTC’s order, Qualcomm filed a lawsuit for the cancellation of the correction order along with a lawsuit to revoke the penalty decision to the Seoul High Court on February 21.