"Even a Price Hike Brings the FTC Knocking"... Law Firm Fair Trade Teams See Explosive Demand and Soaring Value Under Yoon Administration [Post-FTC Careers at Law Firms]

Law Firms Say “Without Expertise, Real-World Response Is Impossible”
Former Fair Trade Officials Now as Sought-After as Police Academy Lawyers

The backdrop to major law firms increasingly recruiting retired senior officials from the Fair Trade Commission lies in the sharply intensified investigations by the Commission under the current administration and a heightened sense of crisis among corporations.

Exterior view of the Fair Trade Commission building. Fair Trade Commission.

A partner attorney at one of the top five law firms commented, "During the previous administration, the Fair Trade Commission was practically inactive, to the point where the fair trade departments of major law firms had almost nothing to do." He added, "But under the current administration, the volume of investigations has surged so much that people say 'even a price increase brings the Commission to your door,' and the demand for fair trade legal services has exploded." He further noted, "Without expertise in investigative techniques and the internal atmosphere of the Commission, it is now extremely difficult to respond properly."

The expansion of Fair Trade Commission investigations is also evident in the numbers. In the first quarter of this year, the number of external individuals contacted by Commission staff reached 1,087—the largest first-quarter figure since the external contact reporting system was introduced in 2018. This represents a 37% increase compared to the same period last year. Notably, while non-case-related contacts such as simple greetings have decreased, substantive case-related contacts—such as requests for documents, witness statements, and on-site investigations—have surged by 53%, from 266 cases in the first quarter of last year to 406 cases this year.

The scale of sanctions imposed by the Commission is also rising steeply. From January through the end of April this year, the Commission levied a total of 36 fines and penalties amounting to 1.068 trillion won, already far surpassing last year’s total annual amount of 354.7 billion won. This is attributed to a series of large-scale cartel investigations into items closely related to daily life—such as paper, sugar, and flour—as well as the increase in the number of large business groups under scrutiny to 102 this year, which has greatly expanded the Commission’s interface with companies.

Another factor adding to corporate anxiety is the Commission’s move to revive the Investigation Bureau, once dubbed the "grim reaper of the business world." It is reported that the Commission is in discussions with relevant ministries to restructure its organization in the second half of the year by expanding the current seven-member Special Investigation Team under the Director of Investigation Management into an Investigation Bureau with 30 to 40 members. Should the Investigation Bureau be established, its ability to conduct sector-wide investigations—not limited to specific allegations—is expected to be greatly enhanced.

As a result, there is rising anxiety among companies, with some saying that once a Fair Trade Commission investigation begins, the "risks are severe enough to tear the company apart." To defend themselves, companies are either demanding that their law firms recruit former officials who thoroughly understand the Commission’s internal logic, or are directly hiring such "practical former officials" into in-house roles to bolster their response capabilities.

In the current law firm market, former Fair Trade Commission officials are said to command fees comparable to police academy law school lawyers, whose value has soared since the adjustment of investigative powers. Whereas law firms previously prioritized recruiting former judges and prosecutors for criminal cases, there is now rapidly growing demand for professionals from the National Tax Service, Financial Supervisory Service, and the Fair Trade Commission for matters related to corporate governance and regulatory risk. According to data released last year by Assemblyman Choi Eunseok’s office, the average annual salary of former Fair Trade Commission officials who moved to law firms jumped 3.4 times, from 87.57 million won to 298.64 million won.

This phenomenon is also shifting the atmosphere within the public sector. Recently, the Fair Trade Commission has become increasingly popular among successful civil service exam candidates, partly due to the perception that its former employees have a greater competitive edge in post-retirement employment compared to other ministries. Over the five-year period from 2020 to 2024, three out of the five top scorers in the economics track of the civil service exam selected the Fair Trade Commission as their first-choice ministry and joined, while the remaining two chose the Ministry of Economy and Finance (currently the Ministry of Strategy and Finance). An official at a central government agency in Sejong remarked, "Unless you are in the top 10 overall, combining civil service exam and training institute scores, you cannot be confident of landing a position at the Fair Trade Commission."

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