SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: John H Choi, Han Soon Choi, Changhun Lee and Seungjun Woo, Shin & Kim
3. Limitation Periods and the Duration of Litigation 3.1 Statute of Limitations Administrative Lawsuit Against the KFTC A company must file a lawsuit with the Seoul High Court against the disposition of the KFTC within 30 days from the date the company was notified of the KFTC’s disposition. If the company has filed an objec - tion to the disposition by the KFTC, the company must also file a lawsuit with the Seoul High Court within 30 days from the date of receipt of the original copy of the KFTC’s decision regarding the objection. An Admin - istrative Lawsuit Against the KFTC will be dismissed after the 30-day period. Antitrust Damages Lawsuit The MRFTA does not contain a separate statute of limitations applicable to damages claims. Accordingly, under the Korean Civil Act, a claim for damages is time-barred upon the earlier of (i) three years from the date on which the victim became aware of both the damage and the identity of the tortfeasor, or (ii) ten years from the date on which the tortious act was committed. Victims of MRFTA violations must, in principle, file a lawsuit with the court within the above period, unless a ground for suspension of the statute of limitations provided by the Civil Act is recognised. Under the Civil Act, reasons for suspension of the statute of limita - tions include demand by way of judicial proceedings, provisional attachment or disposition, etc. The KFTC’s decision, however, is not included among the reasons. 3.2 Typical Length of Private Antitrust Litigation Administrative Lawsuit Against the KFTC In general, it takes about six months for the first hear - ing to be held after a complaint is filed, but the time it takes for the court to announce its judgment after the first hearing varies from case to case. At the Seoul High Court level, it usually ends within two years, but at the Supreme Court level, it can take as little as four months and as long as several years. An Administrative Lawsuit Against the KFTC is only possible after the KFTC’s investigation has been com -
pleted and measures have been imposed, so it is not possible for the court proceeding to be suspended or postponed according to the KFTC’s investigation. Antitrust Damages Lawsuit An Antitrust Damages Lawsuit basically proceeds irrespective of the investigation by the KFTC but, in practice, a victim often waits for the result of the KFTC’s investigation and files the lawsuit according to its results. Even if the victim files a lawsuit before the KFTC’s investigation results are released, the court may postpone or suspend the court proceed - ing until the KFTC’s investigation results are available. If an Administrative Lawsuit Against the KFTC is filed regarding a violation of the MRFTA, whether there was a violation of the MRFTA is a preliminary question in the damages lawsuit, so in many cases, the court in charge of the damages lawsuit proceeds at full pace with the case after the results of the administrative lawsuit have been confirmed. The parties may ask the court to postpone or suspend the court proceeding until the results of the KFTC’s investigation or related administrative lawsuit are available. However, a legal right to proceed as above is not recognised, and the court may decide whether to proceed with the court proceeding regardless of the views of the parties. Accordingly, in the case of an Antitrust Damages Law - suit, much time is spent waiting for the result of the related administrative lawsuit. In order to calculate the amount of damages, an additional six months to one year is required during the appraisal process.
4. Class and Collective Actions 4.1 Statutory Basis
South Korea has no general class-action or repre - sentative collective-damages mechanism for MRFTA claims. Limited collective mechanisms exist outside the MRFTA: securities class actions are confined to specified capital-markets claims, while qualifying con - sumer organisations may seek injunctive relief under the Framework Act on Consumers, not damages.
161 A NTITRUST LI T IGATI O N 2026
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