Chairman Joo Byung-ki presents on major competition issues, including cartels and digital markets, at the OECD Competition Committee
June 26, 2026
International Cooperation Division
Overview of the OECD Competition Committee Regular Meeting
Date: June 22 (Mon) – June 26 (Fri), 2026 (09:00 – 18:00)
Venue: OECD Headquarters (Paris, France)
Host: OECD Competition Committee
Key Topics:
▲ New approaches to detecting cartels
▲ Information exchange in competition policy
▲ Combating bid rigging in public procurement
▲ Competition and corruption in public procurement
▲ Competition and regulation in the healthcare sector
▲ Competition and consumer policy in digital markets
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), led by Chairman Joo Byung-ki as the Chief Delegate, attended the regular meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Competition Committee, held over five days from Monday, June 22, to Friday, June 26, 2026.
During the meeting, Chairman Joo participated in key agenda items such as cartel detection, anti-competitive information exchange, competition and consumer policy in digital markets, and competition and regulation in the healthcare sector. He shared the KFTC's law enforcement cases and directions for institutional improvement, expressing a strong commitment to actively detecting and prosecuting legal violations.
1. Key Discussions on Cartels
During the session on 'New Approaches to Detecting Cartels' on June 23, the KFTC discussed measures to encourage internal whistleblowing with major competition authorities. Chairman Joo shared the newly implemented improvements to the reward system for reporting cartels (effective June 18) alongside the currently reviewed improvements to the Leniency Program (voluntary reporting system).
Regarding the reward system, he explained that the KFTC strengthened the incentive for whistleblowing on large-scale cartels by abolishing the reward limit and unifying the payment rate to a maximum of 10% of the imposed penalty surcharge.
Regarding the Leniency Program, he stated that differentiating the penalty mitigation benefits before and after the initiation of an investigation will increase the incentive to report prior to investigations. Furthermore, abolishing leniency for corrective measures will enable a swifter restoration of competitive order.
On June 24, during the roundtable on 'Information Exchange in Competition Policy,' Chairman Joo presented the case of four major commercial banks colluding through the exchange of Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio information. He explained that by exchanging LTV information—which affects loan availability and interest rates—the banks mirrored each other's lending strategies, substantially reducing competitive pressure in the mortgage loan market.
He emphasized the significance of this case, as it was the first application of the regulations on information exchange collusion under the revised Fair Trade Act of December 2021.
Regarding public procurement, the Director of the Bid Rigging Investigation Division participated in discussions on 'Combating Bid Rigging in Public Procurement' (June 23) and the 'Competition and Corruption in Public Procurement' roundtable (June 26), introducing collaborative measures to deter bid rigging in the procurement market.
The KFTC highlighted the achievements of the Bid Rigging Indicator Analysis System (BRIAS), which detects signs of collusion by analyzing bidding data from 1,042 institutions. The KFTC also shared the successes of the Consultative Council of Agencies Related to Bid Rigging, which includes major institutions such as the Public Procurement Service, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, and the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO).
Benoît Coeuré, Chair of the OECD Competition Committee and President of the French Autorité de la concurrence, highly praised the KFTC's efforts in detecting cartels and regulating information exchange. He specifically noted the LTV case as the first application of the Fair Trade Act's provisions on information exchange and expressed his expectation that this case will prompt changes in corporate behavior in the future.
2. Key Discussions on Healthcare and Digital Markets
The KFTC also introduced its policy and law enforcement efforts in the healthcare and digital markets.
On June 22, during the 'Competition and Regulation in the Healthcare Sector' roundtable, the Director of the Market Monitoring Policy Division introduced competition advocacy activities designed to remove unnecessary entry barriers and mitigate information asymmetry faced by patients, considering the limited price competition in the healthcare market under the National Health Insurance system.
Through examples of regulatory improvements in telemedicine and the refinement of guidelines regarding patient reviews, the KFTC explained that regulations can be designed in a pro-competitive manner while maintaining public policy objectives, such as patient safety. The KFTC also shared its law enforcement efforts against restrictive practices by professional associations in the medical field.
On June 24, during the 'Competition and Consumer Policy in Digital Markets' roundtable, the Committee discussed behaviors that raise concerns from both competition and consumer protection perspectives—such as personalized services via algorithms, self-preferencing, and tying—as well as approaches to address them.
In response, the KFTC shared key cases where it applied an integrated approach based on its expertise as an enforcement agency handling both competition and consumer policies.
Meanwhile, during the OECD Competition Committee period, Chairman Joo participated in the Bureau meeting and the International Competition Network (ICN) Steering Group meeting, leading international discussions among competition authorities and elevating South Korea's global standing.
Notably, as a Bureau Member of the OECD Competition Committee, Chairman Joo actively voiced opinions to ensure that topics of interest to Korea, such as 'Acquihires,' were selected for the Committee's future operations, thereby aligning the KFTC's policy flow with global discussion trends.
Additionally, Chairman Joo held bilateral meetings with heads of major competition authorities, including Andreas Mundt, President of the German Bundeskartellamt; Nuno Cunha Rodrigues, President of the Portuguese Competition Authority; and Wakabayashi Arisa, Commissioner of the Japan Fair Trade Commission. Through these meetings, he shared the current status of major competition policies and law enforcement, reaffirming the commitment to inter-agency cooperation.
The KFTC stated its plan to actively reflect the legal and policy trends of overseas competition authorities—identified through its participation in these meetings—in future institutional improvements and law enforcement, while continuously expanding cooperation with international competition authorities.