The government is set to analyze the causes of high prices for items closely connected to everyday life, including online video services (OTT) such as YouTube and Netflix, movie ticket prices, and cooking oil. This is seen as a move to go beyond simple cartel investigations and to monitor whether dominant firms are using market power to raise prices excessively.
According to the Public Procurement Service on the 19th, the Korea Fair Trade Commission recently commissioned a research project for ‘market analysis to identify the causes of high prices in monopoly and oligopoly items closely related to everyday life’. The scope of this study covers four areas: OTT, movie theaters, cooking oil, and frozen desserts.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission selected these items for investigation in response to criticism that price increases have greatly outpaced rises in costs, or that previously raised prices have been maintained even after raw material prices turned downward.
In fact, the prices of these items have continued to rise. In particular, YouTube Premium has increased by 71.5%, from 8,690 won at its 2020 launch to 14,900 won recently. Netflix and Tving have also recorded price hikes of more than 20% over the past five years, giving rise to the neologism ‘streamflation(streaming+inflation)’. Average movie ticket prices have also risen from 12,000 won in 2020 to 15,000 won recently.
Driven by surging demand for biofuels and the effects of the climate crisis, the rise in cooking oil prices has been even steeper. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the cooking oil price index stood at 167.5 for 2025, up 67.5% from 100 in 2020. Over the same period, ice cream prices within the frozen dessert category also rose 27.5%, adding to the burden on household budgets.
Through this research, the Korea Fair Trade Commission plans to analyze in detail the correlations between factors such as raw materials and prices. It will also carry out global price comparisons to determine whether domestic prices are set excessively high compared with those in major foreign markets.
It also plans to review related regulations and measures to improve supply and distribution structures in order to stabilize prices. A Korea Fair Trade Commission official said, “We plan to analyze item-specific price reduction measures and prepare ways to improve consumer benefits.”
This research project is in line with the recent government focus on ‘strengthening transparency in the price determination structure’. The Korea Fair Trade Commission has also formed a consultative body with the Ministry of Education and other relevant ministries to correct school uniform prices and has begun institutional improvements.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission added that, beyond these four items, it will continue to identify other areas closely tied to daily life where high prices persist due to monopolistic or oligopolistic structures.
한글기사 원본(Original Korean Story)
