South Korea Fair Trade Commission enforcement issues

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated a major investigation into an alleged 11-year collusion scheme involving seven biofuel companies. The firms are accused of pre-selecting winners and allocating quantities for bio-diesel and bio-naphtha contracts, potentially monopolizing the market. The FTC estimates the affected procurement value at approximately 9.7 trillion won, with potential penalties reaching up to 2 trillion won.

Parallel to these enforcement actions, the FTC is facing political scrutiny regarding its ability to collect administrative fines. While the number of fine impositions has increased significantly, lawmaker Song Eon-seok noted that a vast majority of these amounts remain uncollected. As of July, uncollected fines totaled over 1.3 trillion won, driven by installment plans, extensions, and court stay-of-execution orders. Additionally, the commission has seen rising costs from administrative litigation, with refunds and interest paid to companies reaching 107.5 billion won.