Sejong, December 10, 2025 — The Korean authority has sanctioned four suppliers for coordinating outcomes in software testing system tenders issued between 2020 and 2023, imposing corrective orders and fines totalling KRW 161 million (approximately $109,421).
Conduct at issue
The case concerns 11 tenders worth about KRW 4.5 billion across six procuring entities. The lead firm, SureSoftTech, asked three partner companies to participate as cover bidders to prevent tender failures caused by single-bid submissions.
The partners — Cools, T-Bell, and Kuntek — agreed to submit formal bids, relying on pricing or proposal materials provided by the lead bidder. All three companies had prior cooperation relationships with SureSoftTech, including outsourced verification work and cybersecurity supply contracts.
The cover-bidding scheme ran for roughly two and a half years. The authority found that the firms executed the agreed plan by submitting non-competitive offers across the tenders for software testing systems, which are used to detect defects and performance issues during software development and operation.
The authority ordered the companies to cease the conduct and imposed the provisional fine.
