( June 30, 2026, 03:22 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: South Korea plans to revise its competition law to allow small businesses and micro enterprises to engage in collective bargaining with larger companies without risking cartel sanctions, in a major policy shift aimed at strengthening the negotiating power of weaker market participants. Under the proposal discussed at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, companies classified as small businesses would be exempt from antitrust restrictions upon notifying the Korea Fair Trade Commission, while larger SMEs would face additional filing requirements. The reform would also permit coordinated action on prices, trading terms and, in some cases, joint supply refusals, while retaining post-hoc intervention powers to limit consumer harm. Separately, the government plans to formally exclude legitimate labor-union activities and certain collective actions by nonstandard workers from competition-law enforcement. The antitrust regulator said it plans to prepare and pursue the related legislative amendments from July.Statement is attached (in Korean)....
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