South Korea says Intel abused dominant position

SEOUL, June 5 (Reuters) - South Korean regulators said on Thursday Intel Corp (INTC.O) had abused its dominant position in the local market and ordered the world's top semiconductor maker to pay a fine of about $26 million, following a three-year probe.

South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said in a statement Intel offered rebates to South Korean PC makers including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and Trigem Computer in return for not buying microprocessors from rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.N).

The KFTC ordered Intel to stop offering those rebates and to pay a fine of about 26 billion won ($25.57 million), pending confirmation of revenue made by Intel as a result of the practice.

AMD has accused Intel of offering discounts to computer makers that agreed to use Intel chips instead of those from AMD.

In the United States, the state of New York launched a formal investigation into Intel in January, but federal antitrust enforcers in Washington have so far declined to take up the matter.

The KFTC said in September it had completed its investigation into Intel's market tactics, but would not release its conclusions until it had considered Intel's response. ($1=1016.7 Won) (Reporting by Marie-France Han and Rhee So-eui, editing by Keiron Henderson)