The local unit of Dutch electronics giant Philips has been slapped with a huge fine by Korea's antitrust watchdog for preventing price cuts.
The Fair Trade Commission fined Philips 1.5-1 billion won or about 1.3 million U.S. dollars for not allowing Korea's online shopping sites to offer discount prices.
This is the first time the FTC has fined a European company for blocking discounts since the free trade agreement between Korea and the European Union went into effect last July.
The Korean unit of Philips set the prices of goods being sold on online shopping sites and banned sellers from offering discounts on recommended retail prices between March 2011 and May 2012.

Reporter : connie@arirang.co.kr