Fair Trade Commission Chairman nominee Song Ok-rial speaks during a press conference at the Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

By Park Jae-hyuk

The nominee for the head of Korea's antitrust agency emphasized that he will continue to fight against unfair practices by chaebol groups, multinational tech firms and companies monopolizing the market, regardless of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's business-friendly stance.

Song Ok-rial, a professor of commercial law at Seoul National University Law School, who was nominated on Monday to lead the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), told reporters on Tuesday that deregulation does not necessarily allow businesses to do whatever they want.

"The free market economy can be stimulated when the FTC plays its role. If it does not prevent unfair practices, the market economy will collapse," said the nominee, who specializes in the corporate governance structure of Korean conglomerates.

Song, however, added that he is open to meetings with chaebol group chiefs, promising that the FTC will restore trust from the market under his leadership.

In response to criticism from the opposition party against offensive remarks he had made during a dinner with his students in 2014, for which he was accused of sexual harassment, the nominee acknowledged the allegations and apologized, saying that he regrets his previous behavior.

"I was so drunk that I could not prevent the mishap," he said.

After it was revealed Monday that he had ranked his students' looks as "better than average," "worse than average" or "superior" during the dinner, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea criticized the president for nominating him.

Some critics pointed out Song's friendship with Yoon, as they had been in the same class for training at the Judicial Research & Training Institute together, after passing the bar exam.

Yoon told reporters on Tuesday that Song is an excellent person.

During the press conference, Song also explained his previous career as a nonexecutive director of Kumho Petrochemical and KB Financial Group, as well as a lawyer of the nation's largest law firm, Kim & Chang, which is well known for frequently defending conglomerates subject to FTC sanctions.

The nominee said that his previous career would never affect the antitrust agency's decisions.