Koo Yooncheol: Ministerial TF Launched for Special Management of Living-Cost Prices... Strict Crackdown on Collusion and Other Unfair Practices

First TF Meeting Marks Launch...Intensive Operation in First Half of Year
Three Teams to Tackle Unfair Trade, Misappropriation, and Distribution Structures

The government is launching a pan-government task force (TF) dedicated to managing the cost of living. It will operate three teams, the Unfair Trade Inspection Team, the Policy Support Misappropriation Inspection Team, and the Distribution Structure Inspection Team, and concentrate all its response capacity on stabilizing perceived prices in the first half of this year.

On the morning of the 11th, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Koo Yooncheol announced this policy while presiding over the first meeting of the Ministerial Task Force for Special Management of Living Costs at the Government Complex Seoul.

Koo Yoonchul, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Economy and Finance, attended and spoke at the first Task Force meeting of ministers for the Special Management of Consumer Prices, held on Feb. 11, 2026, at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Cho Yongjun

The meeting was attended by ministers and vice ministers from 17 ministries and agencies, including the Korea Fair Trade Commission, the Ministry of Justice, the prosecution and the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. It took place six days after President Lee Jaemyung, at a senior aides’ meeting on the 5th, ordered the government to correct on-site problems where monopolistic and oligopolistic situations are being exploited to force high prices.

The government judges that, although the consumer price inflation rate in January recorded 2%, the price stability target, marking the lowest level in five months, the burden on people’s livelihoods continues because food prices remain high due to inflation accumulated over several years.

In his opening remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Koo said, “The prices of food on the table that we face every day in real life are the barometer of how people feel about their livelihoods,” and pointed out that “illegal practices such as collusion, hoarding, and abuse of market-dominant positions that exploit monopolistic and oligopolistic market structures, as well as inefficient distribution structures, are factors that hinder price stability.” He continued, “It is time to push forward fundamental responses, differentiated from existing price stabilization measures, focusing on inspecting and detecting competition-restricting practices and eliminating unfair trade elements in the market.”

The TF will be operated under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Koo, with Fair Trade Commission Chair Joo Byungki as vice chair, and will consist of three teams: the Unfair Trade Inspection Team, the Policy Support Misappropriation Inspection Team, and the Distribution Structure Inspection Team. It will be intensively operated in the first half of this year.

Deputy Prime Minister Koo stated, “In the first half of this year, we will intensively inspect items closely related to people’s daily lives, root out unfair trade practices, and promptly correct any distorted distribution structures.”

Specifically, he said, “For acts that involve collusion or abuse of monopolistic or oligopolistic market positions, we will conduct joint crackdowns across the entire government,” and stressed, “If illegal activities are uncovered, we will respond strictly through close cooperation between the Korea Fair Trade Commission and investigative authorities.”

Gu Yuncheol, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, is delivering opening remarks at the 1st Meeting of the Ministers' Task Force on Special Management of Living Prices, which he presided over at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 11th. Ministry of Economy and Finance

Regarding the inspection of policy support misappropriation, he said, “We will examine how policies such as discount support and the release of reserve stocks are being implemented in practice, and if misappropriation is detected, we will immediately refer the case for investigation while also swiftly preparing measures to improve the system.”

In particular, he said, “We will crack down more thoroughly than ever, without exception, on illegal acts that evade the reduced tariffs under the tariff quota system or use fraudulent methods such as false reporting to exploit the government’s good intentions for price stability,” and added, “We will also prepare measures such as improving the tariff quota recommendation system, promoting information sharing among related agencies, and strengthening post-management so that the effects of tariff quotas are quickly reflected in the market at both the customs clearance and domestic distribution stages.”

On the inspection of distribution structures, he said, “In cooperation with consumer organizations, we will actively promote the analysis of price information related to distribution structures and the expansion of information disclosure.”