World · East Asia & Pacific · 1 hr ago
South Korean court fines truckers' union 30 million won over probe obstruction
A South Korean appeals court fined the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union 30 million won for obstructing a government investigation.
The case concerns a Fair Trade Commission visit to the union’s office in Seoul in December 2022, during a nationwide truckers’ strike.
The commission was checking whether the union had pressured members to stop work or disrupted transport by other drivers.
The union blocked officials from entering, arguing that it was a labor union and not subject to the commission’s investigation.
A lower court acquitted the union, but the appeals court overturned that ruling.
It said the union’s status as a business association meant competition law could apply, even though it also had union status.
The decision means the union’s refusal to allow the inspection was a criminal offense, according to the appeals court.
A South Korean appeals court fined the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union 30 million won for obstructing a competition watchdog’s investigation.
The Seoul Central District Court overturned a lower court’s acquittal, ruling that competition law could apply to the union as an organization of businesses.
The investigation took place during a truckers’ strike in December 2022.
The union had argued that, as a labor union, it was not subject to the Fair Trade Act.
- Who
- The Cargo Truckers Solidarity union, part of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ public transport workers’ union.
- What
- An appeals court fined it 30 million won for obstructing a Fair Trade Commission investigation.
- When
- The ruling was reported on November 6, 2026. The investigation took place from December 2 to 6, 2022.
- Where
- Seoul, South Korea.
- Why
- The court said the union blocked officials from entering its offices during an investigation into possible unfair collective conduct.
Cargo Truckers Solidarity
Seoul Central District Court appeals panel
Applicability of competition law
Cargo Truckers Solidarity
The union argued that it was a labor union and therefore not subject to the Fair Trade Commission’s investigation.
Seoul Central District Court appeals panel
The panel ruled that competition law generally applies to an organization of businesses unless another law specifically excludes it.
Nature of the strike
Cargo Truckers Solidarity
The union maintained that its collective refusal to transport goods was legitimate union activity.
Seoul Central District Court appeals panel
The panel said union status alone did not exclude competition-law scrutiny, including when conduct might interfere with other businesses.
The Fair Trade Commission attempted an on-site investigation during the truckers’ strike, but the union blocked entry to its offices.
The union was indicted on suspicion of obstructing the investigation.
A lower court acquitted the union, finding the strike was legitimate labor action outside the relevant Fair Trade Act provisions.
An appeals court overturned the acquittal and fined the union 30 million won.
- Fine
- 30 million won
- Investigation dates
- December 2–6, 2022
- Court
- Seoul Central District Court, Criminal Appeals Division 4-2
- Indictment
- August 2023
- Strike demands
- Abolishing the sunset clause on the safe-rate system, expanding its coverage and raising freight rates
1 source
What people are saying
The fact that it simultaneously has the status of a union and is subject to labor laws, or that the Cargo Truckers Solidarity’s actions were part of union activities, does not exclude the application of the Fair Trade Act.
Even if it also has the status of a union, the Fair Trade Commission needed to determine whether the Cargo Truckers Solidarity’s actions fell within the exercise of labor rights as a union, or instead constituted unfair collective conduct, such as interfering with another business’s activities.
The Cargo Truckers Solidarity obstructed investigating officials from entering the site while denying the Fair Trade Commission’s investigative authority based on its own legal judgment that the Fair Trade Act did not apply, and the nature of the offense is not minor.