Cartels 2025

SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: John H. Choi, Changhun Lee, Hyunah Kim and Jae-Hyuk Choi, Shin & Kim

7.7 Leniency v Ex Officio Investigations See 3.1 Leniency . 7.8 Domestic v International Investigations

in furniture. According to its 2025 work plan, the KFTC aims to strengthen its monitoring of cartels that hinder market vitality and increase economic burdens on consumers. To this end, enforcement will focus on four priority areas: • public health and safety (eg, blood tests); • daily essentials such as food, clothing, and housing (eg, pork, school uniforms); • construction materials and intermediate goods (eg, stainless steel wire); and • public bidding and procurement (eg, treasury bonds). Additionally, the KFTC announced its plan to analyse cases, legal theories, and international trends on emerging forms of cartels, such as those involving AI, environmental claims, and information exchanges, and to establish appro - priate countermeasures in response. 7.5 Use of Messaging Applications and Chat Platforms See 2.2 Dawn Raids/Search Warrants and 2.3 Spoilation of Evidence . 7.6 “No Poach” and Labour Market Allocation Conduct In its press release in June of 2019, the KFTC introduced the discussions on no-poach agree - ments held at the OECD Competition Committee meeting and announced that it would take into account global competition enforcement trends when applying the MRFTA to such agreements. The KFTC’s June 2019 publication on global competition policy trends also highlighted no- poach cases and discussions in the USA. It is therefore understood that the KFTC is closely monitoring international enforcement develop - ments regarding no-poach agreements.

See 1.8 Enforcement Priorities . 7.9 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Cartels

In Korea, a public-private joint ESG policy council, led by the Financial Services Commis - sion (FSC), has been established to strengthen companies’ ESG management capabilities. The council is currently discussing measures such as mandatory ESG disclosures. While these mandatory ESG disclosures are expected to be introduced gradually starting in 2026, a precise timeline has not yet been final - ised. In December 2024, the KFTC issued guide - lines that categorise the types of agreements that may arise among climate-tech businesses engaged in environmentally sustainable man - agement activities. These include six categories: joint research and development, technological alliances, voluntary standards, joint production, joint purchasing, and joint logistics and sales alli - ances, as well as information exchanges. These guidelines were introduced to assess potential violations of the MRFTA. According to the guide - lines, if the efficiency-enhancing effects of such agreements outweigh their anti-competitive effects, the conduct may not be deemed a cartel. 7.10 Crisis Cartels In its January 2025 work plan, the KFTC assessed the current economic situation as one of ongoing instability in the national economy, citing delayed recovery in domestic demand due to prolonged high inflation and heightened

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