South Korean government and DP pledge tougher penalties for repeat colluders

After a consultation between the administration and the Democratic Party, South Korean officials announced a package of legal reforms targeting firms that repeatedly engage in price fixing or bid rigging. The reforms will cover 17 industrial sectors, including safety, energy and transportation, and will allow authorities to revoke business registrations or suspend operations of offending companies. To implement this, the Fair Trade Act and 17 related sectoral laws will be amended, the statute of limitations for collusion cases will be lengthened, and data on large public tenders will be integrated with the Fair Trade Commission’s Bid-Rigging Indicator Analysis System.

The Fair Trade Commission chief emphasized the market damage caused by collusion, while the party’s policy committee chair warned that the costs of such conduct must outweigh any gains. Existing provisions for punitive fines on repeat offenders will be applied more rigorously.