South Korea: A Competition/Antitrust Overview
Executive Summary
In 2026, South Korea’s competition policy will be defined less by new legislation and more by intensified enforcement and institutional strengthening. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) is expected to pursue a markedly proactive and deterrence-oriented agenda, focusing on digital markets, consumer protection in technology-driven environments, and enhanced sanctioning powers. Businesses – particularly those in digital, artificial intelligence (AI), and consumer-facing sectors – should anticipate a more assertive regulatory stance and prepare for increased compliance scrutiny.
Overview
South Korea’s competition policy environment in 2026 is expected to evolve through heightened enforcement activity rather than sweeping legislative reform. As the country accelerates its transition toward a digital economy – driven by advancements in AI, semiconductors, and data infrastructure – it simultaneously faces external trade uncertainty and domestic economic headwinds. These dynamics place increasing pressure on the KFTC, which remains central to safeguarding fair and competitive market conditions.
Against this backdrop, the KFTC has identified two overarching policy challenges: (i) structural imbalances in bargaining power among market participants, and (ii) competitive distortions arising from digital transformation. Under the new administration inaugurated in June 2025, the KFTC has embraced a more proactive and interventionist competition policy, emphasising early detection and deterrence of anticompetitive conduct. This policy shift was underscored in the KFTC’s 2026 policy briefing, presented during a presidentially chaired session on 19 December 2025.
Key Policy Priorities
Digital markets: competition and innovation
The KFTC has designated the development of a competitive and innovative digital ecosystem as a central policy focus, pursuing both enforcement actions and institutional reform in parallel. The policy briefing highlights anticompetitive conduct across digital markets – including mobile and digital infrastructure, AI, and cloud services – as key areas of focus for investigation and remedial measures. In addition, the KFTC expressed its intent to actively support legislative initiatives aimed at promoting fairness in transactional relationships between platforms and business users.
Consumer protection in technology-driven environments
The KFTC is sharpening its focus on emerging consumer protection issues in technology-driven environments. It plans to refine the regulatory framework to expand platform operators' responsibility toward consumers and to intensify scrutiny of online platform terms and conditions. The KFTC also indicated that AI-related consumer harm – including dark patterns, deceptive advertising, and unfair subscription models – will become an active area of enforcement.
Enhanced deterrence and sanctions reform
Under the new administration, the KFTC has made effective deterrence against anti-competitive and unfair conduct a central enforcement objective. Both the government and the KFTC have recognised that restoring competitive order is difficult when sanctions fail to outweigh the economic benefits of unlawful conduct. To address this, the KFTC plans to substantially increase administrative fines as the primary economic sanction. In parallel, it seeks to expand the mechanisms and scope for private parties to seek judicial remedies, thereby strengthening the link between administrative enforcement and private litigation.
Strengthened enforcement authority and organisational capacity
The KFTC intends to bolster its investigative powers and organisational capacity. Beyond relying on voluntary co-operation, it is reviewing institutional reforms that would permit more coercive investigative measures. The KFTC has also indicated that it is considering the introduction of administrative fines for parties that refuse to co-operate with investigations. Simultaneously, the agency plans a significant expansion of its organisational structure and personnel, laying the groundwork for a more robust and agile enforcement apparatus. These measures signal an effort to increase both the speed and intensity of enforcement activity.
Market structure analysis and pricing conduct
To enhance the effectiveness of competition policy, the KFTC plans to conduct in-depth analyses of monopolistic and highly concentrated market structures. In sectors where competition is limited and elevated price levels persist, the agency intends to strengthen market structure and price-formation assessments before reaching determinations on individual violations. The policy briefing also notes upcoming institutional reforms to improve enforcement against abusive pricing conduct – an area in which the KFTC has traditionally exercised caution.
Strategic implications
The KFTC’s 2026 agenda reflects a clear intent to reshape Korea’s competitive landscape through stronger deterrence mechanisms and expanded institutional capacity. By extending competition policy beyond traditional investigative and sanctioning functions, the agency aims to establish medium- to long-term frameworks that respond to evolving market structures and the consumer environment.
The emphasis on preventing competition law violations from becoming routine business costs signals a fundamental shift in compliance expectations. This approach is expected to be reinforced through increased investigative vigour and higher penalties. Moreover, the KFTC’s planned organisational expansion suggests that both the pace and perceived intensity of enforcement may rise substantially compared to prior periods.
Overall, the KFTC is likely to play a more active and pre-emptive role in shaping market conduct – using policy tools, institutional reforms, and guidance to influence business behaviour even before formal enforcement actions are initiated.
Practical considerations for businesses
Competition law risk in Korea is expected to become increasingly multi-dimensional, particularly for sectors involving digital technologies or consumer-facing services. Companies operating in or connected to the Korean market should monitor not only statutory interpretation but also enforcement practices and evolving policy priorities.
Given the KFTC’s expanded focus and anticipated acceleration of enforcement, early engagement with experienced local competition counsel will be critical to ensuring that business practices align with both the letter and spirit of Korea’s evolving competition regime.