Year 2025 was a year of divergence in Korean merger control. The M&A market rebounded sharply—deal value nearly doubled year-on year to KRW 90.7 trillion, the highest level in four years—yet the total number of filings made to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (“KFTC”) continued to fall, reflecting structural changes to the reporting thresholds that took effect in 2024. However, the KFTC remained active, operationalizing a new voluntary remedy proposal system, deploying it in three high-profile conditional clearances and testing its limits in one prohibition decision, as well as imposing record sanctions for remedy non-compliance and signaling a more assertive and analytically-sophisticated enforcement for the years ahead.

To read more about (i) 2025 highlights, (ii) merger enforcement trends, and (iii) forecast for 2026, please refer to the attached report.