President Lee: "Offer Rewards of Even Tens of Billions of Won" to Eradicate Unfair Collusion

President Lee Presides Over Cabinet Meeting
"If You Dig Into Every Corner, You'll Find Filth Everywhere... Reporting Should Be Life-Changing"
"Sugar Prices Have Fallen, But Product Prices Staying the Same Is Not Acceptable"
"Clear Sanctions Are Crucial in Administration... Authority Requires Enforcing Them"

President Lee Jaemyung ordered that all markets rife with collusion and other unfair trade practices be completely overhauled. In particular, he called for a sharp increase in rewards for reporting unfair trade practices to encourage more whistleblowing.

Yonhap News Agency

Presiding over a Cabinet meeting at the Blue House on the 24th, President Lee heard Korea Fair Trade Commission Chairman Joo Byunggi say that "the market system is full of outdated irregularities," and responded, "If you dig into every corner, you will find filth everywhere, so everything must be fixed." He added, "The Fair Trade Commission has far too few staff, so it cannot conduct sufficient investigations, and companies know this and are all violating the rules," stressing, "We must make them believe that if they engage in illegal acts, they will all be caught."

He also ordered a drastic increase in rewards for reports. President Lee said, "If someone reports (a violation), give such a large reward that it can completely change their life," adding, "If the reported collusion amounts to 400 billion won, give them several tens of billions of won as a reward, enough to make people gasp. We should make people think, 'Instead of buying lottery tickets, let's go hunt down collusion.'" He went on to say, "Even if we give out hundreds of billions of won, even if we pay 10% to 20% of the collusion amount, it is fine."

Regarding the Korea Fair Trade Commission's investigation into collusion in the sugar and flour markets that was uncovered earlier, he said, "They say the price of sugar has fallen by 16.5%, but if the prices of products that use sugar remain unchanged so that consumers receive no benefit, and companies alone reap all the fruits of the Fair Trade Commission's hard work, that must not be allowed."

He also inquired about the Fair Trade Commission's "authority to order price readjustment." When Chairman Joo said, "If we issue an order, companies can voluntarily lower prices," President Lee replied, "There is a logical contradiction between an order and doing something voluntarily," and asked, "Is it guidance or an order? An order must be followed, so if they do not comply, what sanctions are there?"

He then instructed officials to first devise detailed sanction measures. President Lee said, "In administration, it is important to be clear about what sanctions will be imposed if orders are not followed. In our administration, to put it bluntly, there are many cases where things are just dragged out," adding, "We must firmly devise sanction measures and impose sanctions again if they are not followed, so that the authority of the administration is upheld."