Republic of Korea: Korea Fair Trade Commission announced conditional approval of Tving and Wavve merger

On 10 June 2025, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) completed its review of the merger notification concerning executives of CJ ENM Corporation (Wavve parent company) and Tving Inc. holding concurrent positions at Content Wave Co., Ltd. (Wavve). The KFTC determined that this interlocking directorate structure could substantially restrict competition in the domestic paid subscription-based OTT video service market. To prevent de facto subscription fee increases, the KFTC imposed corrective measures. Tving and Wavve must maintain current pricing structures until 31 December 2026. If they integrate into a single service, a similarly priced bundled option must be available for consumers. Existing subscribers must retain access to their current plans, and former subscribers can rejoin under previous terms within one month of cancellation. The review assessed competitive impacts across six markets: OTT services (horizontal), three content supply markets (vertical), and two telecom/pay-TV markets (conglomerate). Concerns were identified regarding horizontal effects, specifically potential price increases due to increased market concentration and loyal subscriber bases with low price sensitivity to content changes.