'Business Registration Revocation After Two Collusion Cases in Five Years'... Party and Government Take Firm Action Against Repeat Collusion

Party and Government Move to Eradicate Repeat Collusion
Fair Trade Act and 17 Sector Laws to Be Amended
Price Re-Determination Orders to Apply Even to Whistleblower Companies

The Democratic Party of Korea and the government announced on September 28 that they will proceed with amending relevant laws to classify as "repeated collusion" cases in which collusion occurs more than twice within five years, and to allow for the application of measures such as business registration cancellation and business suspension for involved parties.

Kwon Chil-seung, policy chief of the Democratic Party, and Joo Byung-ki, chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, held a “Legislative Promotion Party-Government Consultations for Eradicating Repeated Collusion” at the National Assembly on this day. Following the meeting, Min Byung-deok, Senior Vice Chair of the Democratic Party Policy Committee, stated during a briefing, “The eradication of repeated collusion is being pursued in light of the fact that collusion causes significant harm to citizens’ livelihoods, both in terms of prices and services. We plan to introduce a system for canceling the registration and suspending the business of repeated colluding businesses in 17 sectors.”

Joo Byung-ki, Chairperson of the Fair Trade Commission, is giving an opening speech at the 'Legislative Promotion Party-Government Consultation for Eradicating Repeated Collusion' held at the National Assembly on the 28th. 2026.09.28 Photo by Yoon Dong-joo

Specifically, the party and government discussed: introducing systems for cancellation of registration and suspension of business for repeated colluding businesses; extending the statute of limitations for penalties to improve the detection rate of collusion; linking bidding information from the Offices of Education to the Bid-Rigging Indicator Analysis System (BRIAS); and establishing a legal basis for price re-determination orders to enhance the effectiveness of anti-collusion measures. Regarding price re-determination orders, Senior Vice Chair Min stated, “If prices were raised through collusion, it is unreasonable to keep those prices unchanged. While there is an exemption system for voluntary reporters, relief measures such as price re-determination orders should not also be subject to mitigation.”

Accordingly, the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act and 17 individual laws are scheduled to be revised. Concerning the legislative timeline, Assemblyman Park Sang-hyuk, who serves as a secretary to the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, remarked, “Since this is a critical issue that directly impacts citizens’ everyday lives and welfare, I will work to ensure swift passage.” Regarding the standard for repeated collusion, reference was made to similar legislative cases, with a consensus likely forming on defining repeated collusion as being caught twice within a five-year period.

During a Q&A session with reporters, Chairman Joo explained, “The core of the current revision process is establishing a legal basis to impose stricter sanctions on companies engaged in repeated collusion, in cooperation with other ministries.” He further noted, “For areas where the Fair Trade Commission has already introduced structural measures, we will strengthen penalties through amendments to the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act.”

Regarding the direction of stronger economic penalties, Chairman Joo stated, “The relevant law has been revised so that it will be possible to impose fines that significantly exceed the unlawful gains obtained through collusion. Subordinate statutes, including public notices and enforcement decrees, will also be amended accordingly,” emphasizing, “In the future, imposing fines that far exceed unjust profits will become the new normal and a new standard.”

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