SOUTH KOREAN SCREEN QUOTA SYSTEM LIMITING COMPETITION: FTC.

AsiaPulse News, August, 2003

SEOUL, Aug 1 Asia Pulse - A booklet by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) designed to educate local government officials has been found to describe South Korea's screen quota system as inhibiting free competition.

The material made public today also called for liberalization of the country's education and medical sectors, claiming that imposing uniform standards which limit competition will result in a falloff in efficiency and technological innovation.

It cited price limits, licenses and permits, private contract arrangements and the screen quota as some of the more noticeable hindrances to competition.

The screen quota, which obligates local theaters to show Korean-made movies for a set number of days each year, has been the center of heated debate,...