An interim assessment of competition in the Korean international telephone service market

Korea has cautiously changed its longheld tradition of strong government guidance and leadership and begun to introduce competition in a number of telecommunications market segments. However, compared with the experience of other forerunners, the competition in Korean international telephone service market was mostly guided and controlled by the government leaving little room for active competition to the market participants. It is worthwhile to review the government-led competition and to make an interim assessment, which would generate some useful policy implications for other developing countries seeking a suitable role of government in the competition process.