South Korea's anti-trust agency said on Wednesday it was delaying a long-awaited ruling on Microsoft's business practices to next week, after the review committee failed to reach an agreement, Reuters reports. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) began its investigation in 2001 when Daum Communications Corp. , South Korea's top Internet portal, complained Microsoft had breached antitrust rules by incorporating its Internet Messenger and Media Player services into the Windows operating system.

Despite Microsoft reaching a $30 million settlement with Daum over the antitrust allegations in early November, the commission has said it would rule on the case.

Microsoft has previously said the complaint was without merit and that it would cooperate fully with the probe.

The deadline for the final ruling has been pushed back to November 30, when the committee meets again, an FTC spokesman Lee Tae-hwi said.

"The outcome will likely come out next week because the members of the committee agreed to reach an agreement by the end of this month."