One of the first things students learn in an economics class is that , in a competitive market , the price of a good is determined by the supply of and demand for it . There is no room for intervention by the government except in case of a market failure . But the Korean government intervenes in the market even when it operates without a hitch . It does in the name of its lofty goals , such as shared growth between large and small businesses or assistance for people in the middle or lower income brackets . A case in point is the lowering of commissions that department stores , home - shopping channels and other large retailers charge on the use of their floor space and airtime by sellers . The chairman of the Free Trade Commission and representatives of 11 retail giants agreed to cut their commissions by 3 to 7 percentage points . Here the “ agreement ” was intended to promote “ shared growth ” between operators of retail giants and small sellers , the Fair Trade Commission said on Tuesday . Of course , the “ agreement ” was a euphemism for the antitrust agency ’ s arm - twisting of the large retailers . The veiled coercion cannot be justified . Moreover , shared growth is beyond the purview of the antitrust watchdog , whose job it says is to “ formulate and administer competition policies , and deliberate , decide , and handle antitrust cases ” as a quasi - judiciary agency . Another case of illegitimate market intervention was an accusation it recently hurled against a new high - end brand of instant noodles . It accused its maker of profiteering , unveiling the cost of making the noodles . It did so in a government - wide campaign to rein in inflation . Here again , however , the pursuit of price stability is beyond the realm of its authority . It is not the antitrust regulator alone which resorts to arm - twisting . When gasoline prices were soaring , the Ministry of Knowledge Economy forced refineries to lower the prices and threatened to look into the books of gasoline stations . Of course , it goes without saying that the antitrust regulator and other government agencies must launch an investigation when a department store or an instant noodle maker , for instance , is suspected of breaching the Fair Trade Act or other regulations . Then they have to act on their findings , as they are legally authorized to do . Otherwise , government agencies should restrain themselves from the temptation to intervene in the market . Distortion of prices in the market economy does more harm than good .