Expulsion from Market for Repeat Cartel Offenders in Healthcare, Energy, and Transportation Within 5 Years (Comprehensive)

Targeting 17 Sectors: Fair Trade Act Amendments Planned
Statute of Limitations for Sanctions Extended from 12 to 15 Years
Legal Basis Established for Price Readjustment Orders

Sanctions will be strengthened to allow for business registration cancellation or suspension for operators who have engaged in repeated collusion—two or more times within five years—across 17 key sectors closely tied to daily life, including healthcare, energy, and transportation. The law will also clearly stipulate the authority to order price readjustments to correct prices distorted by collusion, and even self-reported collusion will no longer result in exemption from corrective measures under the revised law.

Photo by Dongju Yoon on September 28, 2026, Chairman Byungki Joo of the Fair Trade Commission gives an opening remark at the 'Legislative Promotion Party-Government Consultation for Eradication of Repeated Collusion' held at the National Assembly.

On the morning of September 28, 2026, the government and the Democratic Party of Korea held a party-government consultation meeting at the National Assembly and announced these plans as part of the "Legislative Promotion Plan to Eradicate Repeated Collusion." During the meeting, both sides reached a consensus on the need for a strong, comprehensive set of countermeasures to root out chronic and repetitive collusion, which is deeply entrenched across the economy and hampers the well-being of citizens. They agreed to promote a legislative package focused on: ▲Strengthening deterrence against collusion ▲Improving detection rates ▲Enhancing the effectiveness of corrective measures, by pursuing five legislative tasks as one package.

First, sanctions for companies that repeatedly engage in collusion will be significantly toughened to allow for business registration cancellation or suspension. Targeting 17 industries closely related to public welfare—chosen in consultation with relevant ministries and areas with frequent past cases—operators that engage in repeated collusion (two or more times within five years) will become subject to business registration cancellation or suspension as stipulated by each sector-specific law and the Fair Trade Act. Accordingly, amendments to the Fair Trade Act and 17 relevant individual laws will be pursued.

The designated sectors include four main categories directly affecting everyday life: ▲Safety and life sectors such as pharmaceutical manufacturing and firefighting facilities ▲Energy and industry sectors such as petroleum refining and sales ▲Environmental sectors such as waste management ▲Transportation sectors such as passenger and cargo transport.

If the Fair Trade Commission, on the basis of the Fair Trade Act, detects a repeat colluder and submits a request to the relevant ministry for registration cancellation or business suspension, the ministry can then take such measures against the colluding business operator in accordance with its governing law.

To raise the detection rate for repeated collusion, the period of administrative statute of limitations for sanctions will be extended from the current maximum of 12 years to up to 15 years. Currently, the basic period is 7 years, with an additional 5 years if an investigation is initiated, making for a maximum of 12 years. Now, the Fair Trade Commission will amend the law to increase the basic period to 10 years and guarantee sanctions for up to 15 years after the start of any investigation.

In addition, to proactively detect public procurement collusion in the education sector, the law will specify that regional offices of education must provide information to the Fair Trade Commission’s Bid-Rigging Indicators Analysis System (BRIAS) as mandatory cooperating institutions. This measure follows the recent detection of bid-rigging in school uniforms and educational tablet PCs.

A legal basis will also be established for ordering price readjustments to correct market distortions caused by collusion. Min Byung-deok, Senior Vice Chairman of Policy for the Democratic Party, explained, "Prices cannot just remain artificially high after collusion. The authority to order price readjustments is necessary so that consumers can be freed from price hikes caused by collusion."

The leniency program (self-reporting reduction system) will also be revised. While exemption from fines and criminal referral for companies that self-report collusion will be maintained, exemption from corrective measures will no longer be granted under the Fair Trade Act.

The Fair Trade Commission emphasized, "Active corrective measures such as price readjustment must apply to all participants involved in collusion for them to be effective. If self-reporters continue to receive exemptions from corrective orders as they do now, the very purpose of restoring fair competition in the market will be compromised, so this loophole needs to be closed."

Both parties plan to immediately introduce amendments to the Fair Trade Act and the 17 relevant sector-specific laws that incorporate these measures, and pledged to actively cooperate to expedite their passage. Park Sang-hyuk, Democratic Party member and ruling party secretary of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, stressed, "After the parliamentary audit period, discussions on the budget and legislation will begin in earnest. Eradicating collusion is directly tied to consumers’ livelihoods and well-being, so we will prioritize rapid processing of these reforms."

Chairman Byungki Joo of the Fair Trade Commission stated, "Collusion fundamentally undermines the foundation of the market economy and seeks unfair gains by exploiting consumers and other economic actors. We will continue efforts to completely root out collusion in areas closely tied to everyday life."

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