Google Korea Raided By Korean Fair Trade Commission

Korean trustbusters raid Google offices from CNet News reports the Korean Fair Trade Commission raided Google’s Seoul, South Korea offices yesterday.

The raid was reportedly part of an investigation around Android. The Korean Fair Trade Commission was investigating if the Android platform unfairly made it hard for rival search engines to be found and used within the Android mobile operating system.

A Google spokesperson told CNet News:

We will work with the KFTC to address any questions they may have about our business. Android is an open platform, and carrier and OEM partners are free to decide which applications and services to include on their Android phones. We do not require carriers or manufacturers to include Google Search or Google applications on Android-powered devices.

Korean based company, NHN, which operates the popular Naver search engine there, and Daum Comminications, asked the Korean Fair Trade Commission to investigate Google on these practices.

Back in May, Google’s Korean office was raided by Korean police over location data. So this is not new to that office.

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• South Korea Begins Formal Investigation After Raiding Google’s Offices
• Police Raid Google’s Korean Office Over Location Data