South Korea antitrust regulator weighs exemption to raise SMEs' bargaining power
( February 9, 2026, 07:36 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: South Korea’s competition regulator said it will pursue reforms to boost the bargaining power of "economically weaker parties," including a possible exemption from the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act when qualifying small businesses negotiate collectively with large companies. The Korea Fair Trade Commission said it launched a taskforce and held its first meeting Monday as part of its 2026 key agenda, and stressed it will design any carve-out cautiously so collective action by weaker parties does not lead to unintended effects such as higher prices or weakened competitiveness for export-oriented companies. It will also review how to more clearly exclude from the act’s scope labor-law “workers” and labor unions so their collective activity can proceed without additional antitrust screening. The regulator said it will draw up improvement measures in the first half of the year and then move to revise the law and related subordinate rules.Statement is attached (in Korean)....
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