Two weeks after order to 'crack down on oil price collusion'... Prosecution raids four major refiners and Korea Petroleum Association [U.S.–Iran War]

With domestic oil prices soaring rapidly due to the fallout from the war between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the prosecution service has uncovered indications of price-fixing among major local refiners and begun an intensive compulsory probe.
Observers say the move reflects the government’s firm stance that exploiting an international crisis to reap unfair gains constitutes a "serious anti-social crime" and must be met with a tough response.
According to legal sources on the 23rd, the Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, led by Chief Prosecutor Na Hee-seok, carried out search and seizure operations from that morning at four domestic refiners—SK Energy, GS Caltex, S-Oil and HD Hyundai Oilbank—as well as at their industry group, the Korea Petroleum Association.
Given the urgency and complexity of the case, the prosecution service is said to have deployed a large investigation team and is securing relevant accounting records, internal communications and other materials.
The refiners are suspected of violating the Fair Trade Act by coordinating in advance around periods of international oil price volatility to arbitrarily raise or freeze domestic prices of petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel. In particular, prosecutors are not limiting their focus to the period after the recent outbreak of war; they are widening the scope to earlier episodes of sharp oil price swings to determine whether there was long-running, organized collusion.
The legal community views the investigation as a direct reflection of the government’s strong resolve to shield ordinary people’s livelihoods from the shock of surging fuel prices.
Earlier, on the 5th at an extraordinary session of the State Council of South Korea and again on the 9th in an emergency message, President Lee Jae-myung ordered authorities to "sternly crack down on those who seek unjust profits by exploiting difficult market conditions," explicitly targeting possible collusion in the refining sector.
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has likewise defined fuel price collusion as "a crime that turns the public’s suffering into an opportunity for profiteering" and instructed the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office of the Republic of Korea (SPO) to respond firmly.
The government is currently operating a maximum oil price system that sets a cap on the retail prices of petroleum products to stabilize fuel costs. Against this backdrop, the latest raids are seen as a preemptive enforcement move by prosecutors to root out illegal practices that could undermine the government’s market-stabilization measures.
Meanwhile, the Fair Trade Investigation Division has recently been concentrating its investigative resources on areas directly tied to people’s daily lives, including cases involving basic necessities such as sugar and flour, as well as alleged collusion over electricity rates.
A legal industry official commented, "Collusion that takes place amid a national crisis like war is extremely serious in nature," adding, "Based on the materials it has secured, the prosecution service is expected to focus its efforts on uncovering concrete evidence of coordinated action among the refiners."
kyu0705@fnnews.com Reporter Kim Dong-gyu Reporter