The Korea Fair Trade Commission said on the 5th that it detected and ordered corrective action against funeral halls in Korea for providing rebates to funeral directors. It said funeral hall operators paid hundreds of thousands of won per case to have funeral directors buy items such as flowers from the funeral hall rather than from outside vendors.
The average funeral expense in Korea is known to be between 10 million won and 20 million won. A survey also shows many people feel this price range is burdensome. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said, "There is a possibility that the rebate practice affected the rise in funeral expenses," and added, "We are investigating unfair practices, including rebates, at funeral halls in five regions nationwide."
According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC), Yangju Hanguk Hospital Funeral Culture Center in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province (Yangju Funeral Hall) provided rebates of 700,000 won per case, totaling the equivalent of 3.4 billion won, to funeral directors at 112 mutual aid companies from Nov. 2021 to Aug. last year. This conduct falls under Article 45(1) of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act as "acts of unfairly inducing competitors' customers to enter into a transaction with oneself." The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) issued a corrective order instructing the company to cease such conduct.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said, "Yangju Funeral Hall offered bereaved families a 50% discount on the funeral hall room price when a mutual aid funeral director refused to accept a rebate." It added, "If there had been no rebate offers, bereaved families could have used the funeral hall at the discounted expense."