South Korea’s antitrust regulator inspects Arm’s Seoul office amid licensing probe

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission carried out an unannounced inspection at Arm’s Seoul office this week, according to Bloomberg reporting.

The move pulls Arm straight into the center of a widening fight over who gets access to its technology and who doesn’t.

Regulators are digging into the company’s licensing system after a complaint filed by Qualcomm Inc., which says Arm is blocking competition by limiting access to its designs after running an open model for more than two decades.

People familiar with the inspection said the KFTC is reviewing whether Arm shifted its business practices in a way that cuts out rivals.

Qualcomm argues that the company’s sudden change in how licenses are granted has real consequences for anyone building processors, from chipmakers to device makers, because Arm’s designs sit under almost every modern smartphone. The regulators’ visit is part of a broader inquiry into how Arm handles these deals.

KFTC expands inquiry after Qualcomm raises global complaints

Qualcomm’s complaint stretches beyond South Korea. Before the visit in Seoul, the company had already raised concerns with regulators in the United States and Europe, saying Arm had changed the rules of the game.

Qualcomm claims Arm built an entire industry by letting many companies license its designs freely, but then began limiting access after more than 20 years of running an open network.

Qualcomm says this shift threatens competition, especially as computing demand grows for everything from desktops to AI hardware.

Arm has pushed back. The company, which is based in the United Kingdom and majority‑owned by SoftBank Group Corp., said Qualcomm is using global regulators to “expand the parties’ ongoing commercial dispute for its own competitive benefit.” The two companies are already fighting each other in courts around the world.

Arm sued Qualcomm over claims the chipmaker violated a licensing agreement. Qualcomm won the case late last year, and in September, a federal judge ruled in Qualcomm’s favor on the remaining claims. Arm is appealing the ruling.

Court filings from Qualcomm last year show the company believes Arm’s behavior changed after SoftBank acquired it and failed to sell it to Nvidia Corp. Qualcomm said Arm began acting “anticompetitively to pad its bottom line,” cutting access to designs that chipmakers and device makers depend on.

Arm does not manufacture chips. Its business runs on licensing chip designs and its instruction set, which is the essential code that lets software communicate with processors.

Legal tension grows as South Korea pushes financial measures

Regulators in South Korea have broad powers under the country’s antimonopoly law, including the authority to conduct in‑person inspections, gather documents, and interview staff.

While these inspections are common, using them on Arm signals that the KFTC is raising the level of scrutiny.

The visit comes as both Arm and Qualcomm try to position themselves for rising demand in computing, especially in AI systems, while the market for smartphone chips slows down.

Away from the chip fight, South Korea’s government is taking steps on financial policy. Koo Yun‑cheol, the country’s finance minister, said Wednesday that Seoul is preparing new incentives for long‑term stock investors.

Koo said, “We plan to introduce incentive measures for small investors, who stay in capital markets for a long time or invest in certain stocks in the long term.” He also said the government is working to stabilize the foreign exchange market by talking directly with market participants to reduce volatility.

Koo added that he met with major exporters who are holding U.S. dollars overseas instead of bringing them back into the country. He noted that he has not yet met with the national pension fund, even though its demand for overseas investment continues to grow.

Koo also pointed to a major U.S. trade agreement, saying, “The government is spending taxpayers’ money for U.S. investments, in return for lower tariffs, which benefit companies. Companies should be aware of these efforts being made by the government and taxpayers.”