Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Intel Corp., the world's biggest computer-chip maker, has been accused by South Korean regulators of breaking antitrust law and risks being fined as much as 3 percent of its annual sales.

Inspectors at South Korea's Fair Trade Commission completed their probe of Intel and sent the allegations to the company, said Kim Sung Man, head of the regulator's antitrust monitoring team.

``The results are about suspicions over Intel's abuse of its dominant market power in Korea,'' he said in an interview today. Intel said it had acted lawfully and that the so-called statement of objections was a preliminary stage.

The charges come seven weeks after the European Commission, the European Union's antitrust authority, said Intel broke antitrust laws by giving illegal rebates to customers to wrest sales away from rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. In 2005, Intel allayed Japanese antitrust regulators' concerns by agreeing to remove clauses that restricted makers from using other companies' semiconductors.

``Intel is convinced that we've been acting lawfully and pro- competitive and to the benefit of consumers,'' Markus Weingartner, a spokesman for Intel GmbH, said by telephone from Munich. He declined to give details of the South Korean charges.

``These are preliminary allegations and no means the final decision,'' he said. ``This would still be subject to review by Korean courts.''

Time to Reply

Kim said the nine-member commission will rule on the case within 30 days of receiving a response from Santa Clara, California-based Intel. He didn't comment on the inspectors' findings nor did he say when the commission will meet.

The Korean probe began in February 2006 when inspectors raided Intel offices. At the time, Advanced Micro said the South Korean raids concerned Intel's dealings with four personal computer makers in the country.

Advanced Micro, based in Sunnyvale, California, sued Intel in a U.S. federal court in Delaware in June 2006, alleging that Intel unlawfully kept its monopoly in the microprocessor market by threatening customers from dealing with Advanced Micro.

``Following formal action in Japan and Europe, global scrutiny is increasingly focused on Intel's harm to competition and consumers alike,'' Tom McCoy, Advanced Micro's general counsel, said in an e-mailed statement. ``Governments around the world must enforce antitrust laws to bring fair and open competition.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Matthew Newman in Brussels at Mnewman6@bloomberg.net; William Sim in Seoul at wsim2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 11, 2007 11:22 EDT