RPT-South Korea slaps $208 mln fine on Qualcomm

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SEOUL, July 23 (Reuters) - South Korea imposed on Thursday a 260 billion won ($208 million) fine on U.S. wireless chip and technology supplier Qualcomm Inc, the largest fine it has ever levied on a single company, citing anti-competitive business practices.

The Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), which has been investigating the case for more than three years, said in a statement that Qualcomm (QCOM.O) abused its dominant position in the local market for CDMA mobile phone chips.

South Korea is home to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS), respectively the world's No. 2 and No. 3 makers of mobile phones. ($1=1249.1 Won) (Reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)