Chairman Joo Byungki Reports on 'School Uniform Collusion'... President Lee Orders "10 Million Won Fine Is Ineffective, Impose Stronger Sanctions"

Report on "Action Plan for School Uniform Bid Collusion" at Cabinet Meeting on May 12
President Lee Criticizes Ineffectiveness of Previous Sanctions

On May 12, Fair Trade Commission Chairman Joo Byungki declared an all-out war against chronic unfair practices in the school uniform market, reporting the "Action Plan for School Uniform Bid Collusion" at the Cabinet meeting. In response, President Lee Jaemyung strongly criticized the previous lenient punishments, ordering the implementation of sanctions so severe that companies involved in collusion would be effectively barred from re-entering the market.

President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the Cabinet Meeting combined with the Emergency Economic Inspection Meeting held at the Blue House on the 12th. Photo by Yonhap News.

Chairman Joo: "Sanctions will be significantly strengthened beyond 'livelihood collusion'"

Chairman Joo stated during his report, "We recently conducted on-site inspections of 27 dealerships in Gwangju, where concerns over school uniform prices have been raised, and imposed penalties of about 10 million won per dealership." He went on to say, "So far, most school uniform collusion cases have been driven by small dealerships for livelihood reasons, so we have considered their ability to pay when imposing sanctions. However, I question whether penalties of around 10 million won per dealership are truly sufficient to deter collusion."

As a countermeasure, Chairman Joo announced, "We will receive bidding data from the Ministry of Education and link it to the Fair Trade Commission's 'collusion analysis system' to detect warning signs in real time. If any signs of collusion are identified, we will conduct prompt on-site investigations, and the reporting period, which was previously limited to the beginning of the school year, will be operated year-round going forward."

After receiving Chairman Joo's report, President Lee Jaemyung delivered a stern rebuke. President Lee pointed out, "School uniform collusion is a long-standing problem that all parents are aware of. Prices and quality are clearly comparable, yet parents are forced to accept this unfairness, feeling frustrated and powerless."

In particular, President Lee addressed the level of sanctions, stating, "A 10 million won fine is completely ineffective. If companies think that getting caught is just the cost of doing business and that not getting caught means profit, that is unacceptable. From at least next year, if bid collusion is detected, impose much harsher penalties as you would for corporate collusion, so that no one would even think of colluding again." Responding to this, Chairman Joo said, "The current fine of 10 million won is only at the level of unjust gains, so we will strengthen sanctions to significantly exceed that amount."

"Take photos and compare prices"… Ministry of Education announces national school uniform price disclosure system

President Lee also proposed practical measures to enhance price transparency. He emphasized, "If we only regulate the total amount, there may be loopholes where companies overcharge for items like shirts or gym uniforms. We must make it possible to see the school uniform prices of all schools at a glance."

When President Lee asked, "How about having the Ministry of Education announce, for example, how much shirts cost at a certain middle school in Jeju, even including photos for comparison?" Education Minister Choi Kyojin responded, "We will consider integrating the school district websites so that starting next year, anyone can compare the actual status, prices, and photos of school uniforms nationwide as they are."

Based on the results of this Cabinet meeting, the integration of the Fair Trade Commission's advanced collusion monitoring with the Ministry of Education's price disclosure system is expected to bring complete transparency to the previously opaque school uniform market starting from the new school year next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.