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Gov't to aggressively impose sanctions on companies that repeatedly engage in collusion

Published: 23 Apr. 2026, 12:08 Updated: 23 Apr. 2026, 19:05

Different brands of flour are being sold at a supermarket in Seoul. [NEWS1]

The government will aggressively impose sanctions on companies that repeatedly engage in collusion — a practice in which businesses secretly coordinate prices or output to limit competition — with measures to effectively drive such firms out of the market, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday.

During a task force meeting of relevant ministers on the special management of consumer prices, the commission stated that it will consider revising laws so that companies that repeatedly commit collusion may face canceled business registrations or suspended operations.

The proposed rules follow a string of cases over the past year — involving essential goods such as eggs, flour and starch syrup — in which groups of companies coordinated prices, keeping them higher than they would be in a fair market, and divided supplies among themselves, effectively limiting competition.

“Collusion is a serious violation that undermines fair market competition and causes significant harm to people’s livelihoods and national finances,” the FTC said. “We will strengthen [the severity of] sanctions against companies that repeatedly engage in collusion to prevent [the act’s] recurrence on an institutional level.”

Ju Biung-ghi, the chief of the Fair Trade Commission, right, speaks during a task force meeting of relevant ministers on special management of consumer prices at the government complex in Jongno District, Seoul, on April 23. [NEWS1]

Under the newly discussed measures, if a company is caught engaging in collusion at least twice over the course of five years, the FTC can request the relevant ministry to take administrative action and impose sanctions on the business.

A similar system is already in place in the construction and real estate brokerage sectors. In construction, a company may have its business registration revoked if it receives fines for collusion two times over nine years. Likewise, real estate brokerages may have their office registrations canceled for repeated violations. The government plans to implement these penalties across all business sectors.

Executives who lead or participate in collusion could be dismissed or suspended under the revised system, which aims to stop the human network that contributes to repeated instances of collusion at its roots, said the commission.

Fines for repeated offenses will also be increased by up to twice the current level.

A customer shops for eggs at a supermarket in Seoul. [NEWS1]

Companies that engage in collusion will also face harsher restrictions on the bidding process, in which businesses compete for contracts, usually for government or public projects. Such limits currently apply only to cases in which companies are caught colluding during the bidding process. However, the revised system will cover other forms of collusion, such as price-fixing or output control.

Additionally, the criteria for companies that are eligible to face bidding restrictions will be stricter, and the duration of the punishment will be extended.

The leniency given to companies that voluntarily confess to collusion will be tightened as well. Previously, firms found guilty of collusion could receive reduced penalties if they engaged in the practice again as long as five years had passed since the previous incident. Under the revised rules, such reductions will be cut in half for businesses that have already committed collusion within the past five to 10 years.

For the victims, the government plans to make it easier to seek compensation.

More people will be able to file class action lawsuits to claim damages, and courts will be able to ask the FTC to provide evidence. This lessens the amount of proof that victims need to gather themselves and makes it easier for them to win compensation.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG. [[email protected]]