School uniform dealers in Yongin, Ulsan and Yeongcheon caught rigging bids

School uniform dealers in Yongin in Gyeonggi Province, Ulsan and Yeongcheon in North Gyeongsang Province have been caught rigging bids for middle and high school uniform supply contracts, pre-arranging winners and prices before submitting bids.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission said Tuesday it had decided to issue corrective orders and impose a combined fine of 102 million won ($76,200) on 10 uniform dealers across the three regions for colluding on 51 procurement bids issued by 19 middle and high schools.

Under South Korea's school-managed uniform procurement system, a school principal selects a supplier through competitive bidding and then distributes uniforms to students in bulk. Each school chooses its supplier within a price ceiling set by the regional office of education council.

The dealers caught in this case were found to have pre-arranged winning bidders and bid prices through in-person meetings, text messages and KakaoTalk.

In Cheoin-gu, Yongin, four dealers colluded on 15 bids issued by eight schools between September 2022 and October 2025. Smart Schoolwear Yongin asked rivals to submit sham bids in 2022 to prevent auctions from being voided for lack of competing offers. From 2023, it began sharing lists of schools it wanted to win with competitors to avoid low-price contracts and secure its target volume.

As other dealers went along, some bids saw prices agreed upon in advance as well. Smart Schoolwear Yongin pre-arranged bid prices with sham bidders in some cases, ultimately securing contracts at an average of 98.29 percent of the estimated price — a notably high rate. The commission fined the four Cheoin-gu dealers a combined 72 million won.

In Giheung-gu, also in Yongin, Smart Schoolwear Singal and Schoolooks Giheung colluded on a single middle school uniform bid last August. Smart Schoolwear Singal asked its rival to submit a sham bid and shared its intended price to prevent the auction from being voided. Because only one bid was involved and the violation was not considered serious, the commission issued corrective orders only, without fines.

In Nam-gu, Ulsan, Ivy Club Ulsan Nam-gu and Smart Schoolwear Ulsan Nam-gu agreed on winning bidders and prices across six procurement bids at six schools between September 2022 and November 2024.

The two dealers' representatives, who had worked at the same business in the past and maintained a personal relationship, coordinated bid terms via KakaoTalk. The pre-arranged winner secured the contract in five of the six bids. The two dealers were fined a combined 9 million won.

The longest-running collusion took place in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. Smart Schoolwear Yeongcheon and Elite Schoolwear Yeongcheon colluded on 29 bids issued by four schools between October 2018 and December 2025.

The two dealers' representatives met at a uniform sample presentation for a high school in 2018 and, noting that they were the only two branded uniform dealers in the area, agreed to avoid competition by dividing schools between them. They operated a rotation system, ensuring the dealer that lost the previous bid would win the next one. The arrangement continued even after ownership changed hands, and from 2019 the scheme expanded to cover four schools.

From 2024, the two sides also agreed on specific bid prices — 338,000 won ($253) for the designated winner and 340,000 won for the sham bidder. However, in two bids in 2023 and one in 2024, a third dealer submitted a lower price and won the contract. The commission fined the two dealers a combined 21 million won.

Since 2010, the Fair Trade Commission has uncovered and sanctioned a total of 52 school uniform bid-rigging cases nationwide, including this one. With collusion recurring, the commission has been tightening its monitoring and enforcement.

In April, it revised related guidelines to significantly raise the minimum surcharge rate for fines and stiffen penalties for repeat offenders. Since May, it has been linking bid data from 16 city and provincial offices of education to its Bid Rigging Indicator Analysis System to intensively monitor for signs of collusion.

"If suspected cases of collusion arise, we plan to launch an ex officio investigation and closely examine whether the law has been violated," the commission said.