South Korea’s government and ruling Democratic Party (DP) agreed on Sept. 28 to pursue stronger sanctions against companies that repeatedly engage in collusion. The proposed system would allow authorities to revoke business registrations or suspend operations of companies found guilty of price fixing or bid rigging.
The measures would cover 17 industries, including safety, energy and transportation. Min Byoung-dug, deputy chair of the DP’s policy committee, told reporters after a government-party consultation that the plan would require amendments to the Fair Trade Act and 17 sector-specific laws.
The government and party also plan to extend the statute of limitations for collusion sanctions. They would link data on large public tenders commissioned by education offices to the Fair Trade Commission’s Bid-Rigging Indicator Analysis System. In addition, they intend to strictly enforce previously revised laws allowing punitive fines for repeat collusion.
Fair Trade Commission head Ju Biung-ghi said collusion undermines the market economy and generates unfair gains at the expense of consumers and other market participants. DP policy committee chair Kwon Chil-seung said businesses should receive a clear warning that the costs of collusion must outweigh its potential gains.