공정거래 자율준수 제도의 법제화 동향 및 법리적 쟁점

In June 2023, the amendment to the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act established the legal basis for the Korean Competition Compliance System(KCCS). The fact that legal provisions are stipulated at the legal level carries significant normative significance. Therefore, now that the KCCS has been enacted, it is time to examine its significance, the legal issues it addresses, and the future directions for improvement from a normative perspective. This paper aims to highlight the significance of the enactment of the KCCS and, through a comprehensive review of both practical and theoretical aspects, to develop a discussion on its future development. The normative purpose of the KCCS is competition advocacy, which involves compliance with laws and regulations under the jurisdiction of the Korean Fair Trade Commission(KFTC), dissemination of a culture of voluntary compliance, and promotion of competition. In line with this perspective, it is necessary to refrain from imposing excessive burdens on businesses, secure appropriate evaluators, secure working-level personnel for the Korean Mediation Agency responsible for evaluation practices, and secure a budget for the KFTC to oversee the system's operation. In particular, we must reduce the burden on evaluators and develop objective and desirable evaluation criteria. Fair evaluation is key to a successful fair trade compliance evaluation and rating system and, therefore, a fundamental prerequisite for spreading a culture of compliance.