The Fair Trade Commission will conduct intensive inspections of price collusion in sectors directly tied to people's livelihoods, including food, education, construction, and energy. For collusion that has persisted for a long time, it is also considering measures that would require prices to be reset in addition to a penalty surcharge.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said on the 19th in a work report to President Lee Jae-myung that it would strengthen market monitoring of price collusion, saying it would correct unfair practices that increase the public's burden.
The inspections will target four key sectors: food, education, construction, and energy. In food, it will examine sugar, flour, and eggs. In education, learning devices, educational facilities, and printing paper are the focus. In construction, it will review new apartment construction, gas pipelines, and wallpapering work in new apartments. In energy, it will look at the biofuel and lubricants markets.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) plans to form task forces for key cases to investigate quickly. If collusion has continued for a long time or hardened into a practice, it will consider additional steps to enhance remedial effectiveness. Measures could include ordering prices to be recalculated, not just imposing a penalty surcharge.
It will also overhaul the penalty system for unfair practices. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) will strengthen economic sanctions such as penalty surcharges and fines, while pursuing institutional improvements to increase the effectiveness of investigations. It is also considering whether to introduce compulsory investigative powers.
Rules on price abuse by monopolistic and oligopolistic operators will be tightened. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) plans to rationalize the criteria for determining illegality under the Fair Trade Act to better control price hikes by corporations with market dominance.
It will also expand analysis of monopolistic and oligopolistic structures. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) will examine structural causes in markets where prices remain high among items closely tied to people's daily lives. Targets include the ice cream, cooking oil, movie theater, and online video service (OTT) markets.
It will also pursue improvements to distribution structures. In wholesale agricultural markets, it will broaden shippers' choice of transaction methods to strengthen competition. In the neutral spirits distribution sector, it plans to increase liquor manufacturers' autonomy in raw material purchasing and revamp the distribution system that has hardened around wholesalers.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it would ensure that the burden caused by price collusion and monopolistic and oligopolistic structures is not passed on to consumers, adding that it would pursue market monitoring and institutional reforms in tandem.