Advised to Focus on Competitiveness Enhancement
The Korea Fair Trade Commission announced that it would approve the Korean Air-Asiana Airlines merger within this year, and yet the promise is unlikely to be kept. A year has already passed since the two companies announced the merger. In addition, the commission is still not approving the merger between Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, which was announced more than three years ago.
On the other hand, foreign competition authorities are moving fast regarding the mergers. For example, Vietnam approved the airline merger in November this year and the European Union recently resumed its deliberation on the merger between the shipbuilders after four postponements.
“With overseas approvals becoming increasingly likely, the commission needs to take necessary steps so that the deals can be finalized without any more delay,” said an industry source, adding, “Both deals are not problematic in terms of procedure and can lead to competitiveness enhancement.”
He said that the commission needs to focus on the airlines’ survival in the global aviation market, which is a perfectly competitive market, rather than the possibility of monopoly. “Various governments are providing extensive support for airlines with COVID-19 lingering, and yet the commission is acting as an obstacle unlike them,” he pointed out.