Joo Byung-gi (left), Chairperson of the Fair Trade Commission, and Ahn Seung-bae, President of the Korea Gas Station Association, converse at the Gas Station-Oil Refiner Social Dialogue Coexistence Agreement Ceremony held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 9th. Reporter Oh Seung-hyunFair Trade Commission Chairman Joo Byung-ki announced Wednesday that the investigation into suspected price collusion among gas stations will be wrapped up soon, with administrative actions to follow, amid surging oil prices triggered by the Middle East conflict.
"We conducted on-site inspections of gas station collusion in Busan, North Gyeongsang Province, Jeju, and the Gyeonggi region," Joo said during a CBS Radio appearance Wednesday morning.
"There were regions where price movements among nearby gas stations were similar. We focused our collusion investigation on areas where prices were excessively high compared to other regions," he said, adding that the FTC will soon complete its investigation and issue penalties commensurate with the severity of violations, including corrective orders and fines.
Regarding the proposal to effectively abolish the exclusive indictment system by expanding indictment authority for violations of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act—which Joo reported at the Cabinet meeting chaired by acting President Lee Jae-myung on December 31—the chairman said it "must proceed together with the ongoing criminal justice system reform."
"Once reforms such as the adjustment of investigative powers between prosecutors and police are implemented, a timeline can emerge," he said, adding that "before that, we will gather opinions from the industry centering on the FTC and prepare a specific legislative amendment plan."
On concerns that abolishing the exclusive indictment system could lead to an overflow of indictments, Joo said, "Excessive criminal sanctions need to be streamlined," explaining that the reform direction involves "eliminating unnecessary criminal sanctions and replacing them with economic sanctions, as part of so-called penalty rationalization."
Joo had earlier proposed expanding indictment authority so that fair trade-related prosecutions could be initiated when a certain number of plaintiffs—such as 300 citizens or 30 companies—file collective complaints.
He also suggested expanding the authority to request indictments—currently granted only to the Prosecutor General, Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman, Minister of SMEs and Startups, and Public Procurement Service Administrator—to 50 central government agencies, 17 metropolitan governments, and 226 local governments. However, considering acting President Lee's instruction to review granting direct indictment authority to local governments, further discussions on the reform plan are planned.