One in Four Sports Instruction Businesses Still Use Opaque Pricing... KFTC to Enforce Strict Measures and Promote Awareness

Gym Compliance Rate Reaches 95.4%

One in Four Sports Instruction Businesses Still Operate with Opaque Pricing

While the 'price display system,' which requires operators to post usage fees on business premises, has become firmly established in gyms, the practice of "opaque pricing" remains prevalent in sports instruction businesses such as swimming and baseball. The government has announced that it will take strict actions, including imposing fines, on businesses that fail to comply. In addition, starting this year, the scope of the compliance survey will be significantly expanded to include yoga, pilates, and wedding services, in an effort to eliminate blind spots in consumer rights protection.

Swimming pool at the National Sports Center within Yanggu Comprehensive Sports Town. Yanggu County.

On March 2, the Korea Fair Trade Commission announced the results of its "2025 Compliance Survey on Price Display and Related Obligations," which examined 2,000 gyms and 300 sports instruction businesses nationwide.

The survey revealed that 92.5% of all businesses were fulfilling their price display obligations, but there were significant differences by sector. Gyms, where the system has been in place since 2022, showed a compliance rate of 95.4%, indicating that the culture of price transparency has taken firm root. In contrast, sports instruction businesses, which were newly included in the mandatory price display category in April last year, had a non-compliance rate of 26.7%, reflecting a relatively low level of adherence. The Korea Fair Trade Commission assessed that, "As it is still early in the implementation, operators' awareness of the system and compliance with obligations remain insufficient."

The Korea Fair Trade Commission plans to take follow-up measures against operators who failed to properly display service details, fee structures, or refund policies, including imposing fines of up to 100 million won. Furthermore, from this year, the scope of the price display system will be actively expanded. For yoga, pilates, and wedding services (such as wedding halls and wedding planning agencies), which were added as mandatory sectors last November, a guidance period will be in place until May, accompanied by intensive promotion. Starting with this year's compliance survey, these sectors will be formally included in the investigation to ensure compliance.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission stated, "By requiring operators in sports facilities and wedding services—areas closely related to people's daily lives—to proactively disclose essential information such as service details and prices, we expect to help consumers make rational and safe choices when using these services."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.