Ju Biung-ghi, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) chairperson, said on the 15th that "once the related probe wraps up soon, an enforcement order or a penalty surcharge will be imposed" over alleged price collusion among gas stations.
The chairperson appeared on CBS Radio's "Park Sung-tae's News Show" that day and stated accordingly, saying, "We conducted on-site inspections into gas station collusion in Busan, North Gyeongsang, Jeju and Gyeonggi."
The chairperson said, "In Busan, North Gyeongsang, Jeju and elsewhere, there are areas where price movements among nearby gas stations are similar," adding, "We focused the investigation on areas where prices are excessively higher than in other regions."
On abolishing the exclusive right to file complaints, the chairperson said, "It should be carried out alongside the criminal justice reform currently underway." The exclusive right to file complaints is a system under which law enforcement can indict conduct such as collusion, which falls under the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC)'s jurisdiction, only if the FTC files a complaint. At a Cabinet meeting on the 31st, the chairperson released a plan to allow organizations above a certain size to file complaints directly with law enforcement and said the exclusive right to file complaints would be abolished.
The chairperson said, "If reforms such as the adjustment of investigative authority between prosecutors and police are made, a more specific timeline can emerge." Addressing concerns that complaints could flood in if the exclusive right to file complaints is removed, the chairperson said, "There is a need to first streamline excessive criminal sanctions." The chairperson added, "The ongoing legal revision work is being carried out together with so-called penal rationalization, which removes unnecessary criminal sanctions and replaces them with economic sanctions."