1.

Raising the Lower Bound of Administrative Fine Assessment Rates and the Minimums for Fixed-Amount Fines

The Draft Amendment will significantly raise the lower bound of the assessment rates for all types of violations under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Law (“FTL”), including unfair collusion. In addition, when a fixed-amount administrative fine is imposed, the Draft Amendment seeks to increase the minimum fixed-amount administrative fine. The revisions to the administrative fine assessment rates and the fixed-amount administrative fine standards for major violation types are as follows.

(1) Abuse of Market Dominant Position


(2) Violation of the Regulations to Curb Concentration of Economic Power


(3) Unfair Collusion


(4) Unfair Trade Practices and Resale Price Maintenance


(5) Unfair Support and Provision of Undue Benefits*

* In cases of unfair support or provision of undue benefits, the administrative fine is calculated by applying the prescribed assessment rate to the violation amount (i.e., the amount of support)

(6) Retaliation

 

2.

Strengthening the Degree of Administrative Fine for Repeat Offenders

The Draft Amendment proposes to strengthen the fine multipliers so that even a single prior violation can result in an increase of up to 50%, and, depending on the number of violations, up to 100% (under the current rules, a single prior violation results in a 10% increase, which may increase by up to 80% depending on the number of violations and the combined weighting score). In particular, for collusion, the Draft Amendment will provide grounds to increase the administrative fine by up to 100% if the violating company had been fined for a collusive conduct at least once in the past ten years.


 

3.

Elimination and Reduction of Discretionary Mitigating Factors

The Draft Amendment proposes to reduce the scope of mitigation so that mitigation of up to a total of 10% may be applied for cooperation during the entire investigation and hearing stage (under the current rules, mitigation of 10% may be applied at each of the investigation and hearing stages, for a total of up to 20%). The mitigation rate for voluntary corrective measures would also be reduced from a maximum of 30% to 10%. Meanwhile, the provision allowing mitigation for “minor negligence” (10%) will be deleted.

Furthermore, the Draft Amendment proposes to establish grounds for the KFTC to rescind mitigation benefits that was granted to a business that cooperated with a KFTC investigation or hearing if that business subsequently appeals the KFTC’s decision to the court and, during litigation, denies the materials or statements it submitted during the investigation/hearing or if those submissions are found to be false.
 

4.

Implications

In announcing the Draft Amendment, the KFTC emphasized the need to impose administrative fines that effectively exceed the unlawful gains obtained from a violation of the law. This suggests that the KFTC does not simply intend to increase the imposition rate through this amendment, but that the actual amounts of administrative fines imposed in practice will likely increase.

Going forward, businesses should expect that violations of the FTL could result in administrative fines of a magnitude that is materially damaging to business. It is therefore increasingly important to strengthen compliance to prevent violations in advance, institutionalize a zero tolerance approach over breaches of internal controls, and proactively manage antitrust-related legal risks.

Separately, on December 29, 2025, the KFTC announced a plan to raise statutory caps on administrative fines for violations of the FTL and other laws under its jurisdiction, and stated that it will submit a bill to the National Assembly in the first half of 2026 (Link) for this purpose. If the statutory cap on administrative fines is raised, we may expect an overhaul of the administrative fine regime, including further amendments to the Notification on Detailed Standards for the Imposition of Administrative Fines which determines the detailed imposition rates.