On June 4, 2025, President Lee Jae-Myung commenced his five-year term as the 21^st President of the Republic of Korea. During his inaugural speech, President Lee emphasized his commitment to building a market economy ecosystem based on fairness and shared prosperity. He stated that “[f]air growth based on shared opportunities and outcomes will open doors to a better world,” and that Korea must “move toward a fair society of balanced development and fair growth strategies” to “create an industrial ecosystem where companies of all sizes collaborate organically, and transition into a fair society free of privileged status or preferential treatment.” In line with these goals, the new administration is set to implement significant political and economic policy reforms that will impact businesses operating in Korea.

The President’s National Policy Planning Committee unveiled the new administration’s five-year roadmap on August 13, and the administration’s 123 national policy tasks were officially approved at a Cabinet meeting on September 16. These policies highlight “establishing a fair economy of cooperation and shared prosperity” as a core strategy to achieve the administration’s key objectives, for which specific tasks include (i) creating a fair market order, (ii) ensuring consumer sovereignty and eradicating unfair practices, and (iii) combating technology theft and creating a business environment of shared prosperity.
 

• Create a fair platform ecosystem: The new administration plans to establish an online platform regulatory system to protect consumers and businesses and eradicate unfair practices by (i) enhancing transparency throughout the transaction process – covering contract formation, modifications and execution, (ii) reducing the burden of fees on vendors and strengthening their bargaining power through the right to form a collective, and (iii) preventing misappropriation of transaction proceeds by requiring compliance with settlement deadlines and separate management of payments.
   

• Strengthen protections for the economically underprivileged: Efforts will focus on boosting the bargaining power of small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) and small business owners against stronger counterparts – such as franchisors and prime contractors – and facilitating the opening and closing of businesses through measures including (i) granting franchisees the right to collective bargaining and enabling distributors, suppliers and vendors to form collectives, and (ii) implementing a franchise disclosure system to provide timely information to prospective franchisees and grant franchisees termination rights to exit agreements without excessive penalties when business conditions deteriorate due to unforeseen changes in commercial environments.
   

• Strengthen monitoring of unfair internal transactions: The new administration plans to tighten monitoring of unfair internal transactions by (i) discouraging overlapping listings within the same business group under the holding company system, (ii) preventing circumvention of regulations on inter-affiliate transactions through treasury shares that allow the owner family to make undue profits, and (iii) adjusting administrative fines that are proportionate to the unfair gains to ensure strict enforcement.
   

• Promote a fair procurement market: To ensure fairness in public procurement, the administration plans to introduce ex officio investigations and administrative fines for refusal to cooperate or non-compliance with the investigations, thereby strengthening oversight of unfair acts by institutions involved in public procurement.
   

• Strengthen consumers’ rights and interests across all age groups: The new administration plans to enhance consumer protection by: (i) requiring disclosure of wedding service prices (for young adults), (ii) mandating gyms to disclose whether they have guarantee insurance for middle-aged consumers, and (iii) improving the financial stability of funeral service providers to protect the elderly.
   

• Expand civil remedies and enforcement: To better deter unfair civil practices and improve damage relief, the administration plans to (i) broaden the scope of unfair practices for which the private sector can file claims directly in court – without having to go through the Korea Fair Trade Commission (the “KFTC”) – extending beyond the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (the “MRFTA”) to include unfair practices under the Fair Subcontracting Transactions Act, Fair Franchise Transactions Act, and Fair Distribution Transactions Act, (ii) establish a fund to compensate consumers and SMEs harmed by unfair trade practices and support their rights, (iii) eliminate the lawsuit permit system and introduce the right to seek preventive injunctions to encourage consumer class actions, and (iv) create a system where courts can order the opposing party and the KFTC to submit evidence related to damages.
   

• Strengthen the dispute mediation and execution system: The new administration plans to pursue the enactment of the Fair Trade Dispute Mediation Act, which would consolidate dispute mediation procedures that are currently dispersed across individual laws, introduce a simplified mediation process and an appraisal advisory system, and expand collective mediation. The new administration also plans to update the dispute mediation system to provide legal grounds to provide support for litigation for disputes that failed to reach a mediation. In addition, it introduced plans for a new legal basis for requiring local governments to take measures and reply when the Korea Consumer Agency notifies a confirmed violation that was detected during the provision of damage relief, and allow all consumers to receive damage relief en masse even if they did not apply for it.
   

• Strengthen technology protection system: The new administration plans to enhance protection against technology theft by imposing stricter penalties, alleviating the burden of proof during the litigation process and ensuring full compensation for damages. Specifically, these measures will include (i) the introduction of a Korean discovery system and enabling the court to order submission of materials, and (ii) an update of the calculation method of actual damages, which forms the basis for calculating the punitive compensation amount.
   

• Institutionalize the damages relief system: The new administration plans to (i) create a damages relief fund jointly operated by the KFTC and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, (ii) establish an integrated support system dedicated to mediating disputes among SMEs and providing damage relief to SMEs, and (iii) establish a preventive system.
   

• Create a win-win environment: To close regulatory gaps, the administration plans to expand the scope of the supply price linkage system to energy costs, stabilize subcontract price payments, introduce a win-win financial index, and enhance the bargaining power of SMEs by granting SME cooperatives the right to collective bargaining.
   

• Establish a fair trade environment on platforms: The new administration plans to foster a culture of shared prosperity on online platforms and support the revitalization of public delivery apps by institutionalizing practices that promote win-win cooperation, including conducting assessments of platform growth, carrying out fact-finding surveys and operating a win-win consultative body between platforms and business operators.
   

[Korean Version]