1.

Establishment of Fair Trade Order for Promoting Dynamic Economy

The KFTC has announced that it plans to enact the “Platform Competition Promotion Act” to benefit consumers and enhance innovation in the digital economy. The Platform Competition Promotion Act will serve as a means to resolve the issue of platform monopolies that encroach on startups, small businesses, and consumers (e.g., self-preferencing, tying arrangements, multi-homing restrictions, and preferential treatment). The KFTC has announced its intention to conduct reviews in the following three main areas in order to effectively address collusive acts that adversely affect consumers: (i) food, clothing, and housing, (ii) finance and telecommunications, and (iii) intermediate goods. Furthermore, the KFTC is expected to monitor and inspect unfair practices in the semiconductor and medical device sectors.
 

2.

Improvement of Business Conditions for SMEs and Small Business Owners

With the aim of creating an environment that guarantees the rightful share of economic benefits for SMEs and venture companies, the KFTC plans to make various efforts to ensure the smooth operation of the “variable supply price system” and also establish a basis for companies that have suffered from technology misuse to directly request the court to address violations of the Fair Transactions in Subcontracting Act. In addition, to improve the business conditions of small business owners, the KFTC will require franchisors to first consult with franchisees before changing transaction terms in a manner that is disadvantageous to the franchisees. Moreover, by amending the Act on Fair Transactions in Large Retail Business, the KFTC will introduce punitive damages against companies that unfairly transfer marketing expenses to SMEs. The KFTC will also closely monitor (i) unfair practices that exist in the distribution/agency chain transaction structure, and (ii) unfair practices that affect consumers. Furthermore, to ensure the prompt recovery of damages for SMEs, the KFTC will establish measures to proactively provide the court with materials retained by the KFTC for damage suits against companies that engage in unfair trade practices.
 

3.

Creating an Environment Where Consumers’ Rights and Interests Are Protected

In response to “shrinkflation,” the KFTC plans to monitor changes in the volume of products sold through voluntary agreements with distribution and food companies and expand the categories of information that should be disclosed on the price information portal. In addition, the KFTC will designate acts of unjustly changing important matters, such as reducing the amount of products or reducing the amount of certain ingredients used in a product without providing proper notification to consumers. In addition, it is expected that the KFTC will proactively investigate and enforce laws relating to new types of transactions involving social media, dark patterns, and probability-based game items. Moreover, the KFTC will establish a foundational basis for consumer safety by, for example, proposing amendments to the Product Liability Act that allow for compensation in cases of accidents caused by AI or software.
 

4.

Reasonable Operation of Conglomerate Regulation System

The KFTC is expected to strengthen regulations to address unfair intragroup transactions in the following ways: (i) inspection of not only large business groups, but also mid-sized companies with substantial market shares in industries that are closely linked to consumers’ livelihoods, such as the food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, and medical services industries, (ii) monitoring attempts to provide illegal support to affiliated companies through various means, such as complex financial products (e.g., agreements to sponsor cash deficiency, Total Return Swap (“TRS”)) or fake contracts, (iii) establishment of efficient regulatory measures to prevent evasive practices, such as using derivative products (e.g., TRS) as financial guarantees, and (iv) expansion of the scope of tax information acquired from the National Tax Service to detect and respond to allegations of unfair intragroup transactions. Moreover, for the designation of business groups that are subject to disclosure, the KFTC will change the criteria so that it can be linked to GDP. In addition, the KFTC will establish criteria for determining the concept of “same person.” In addition, the KFTC has announced that it will improve the system relating to restrictions on voting rights for financial and insurance companies.