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The Gyeongbuk Office of Education has refused to release bidding records related to a joint school-uniform procurement, despite renewed allegations of collusion, drawing sharp criticism from the local community.
On May 29, our reporting found that the winning prices for summer and winter uniforms at several middle and high schools in the Gumi, Gimcheon and Chilgok areas clustered near the education office’s recommended price ceiling. In multiple cases, schools recorded identical winning bids or differences of only about 1,000 KRW (approximately $0.75).
Although different suppliers served each school, prices showed little variation and concentrated within a narrow range. That pattern has prompted calls from both inside and outside the education sector for an investigation into possible additional collusion.
To assess the transparency of the bidding process and the structure behind price-setting, our outlet requested the related documents from the Gyeongbuk Office of Education. The office declined to release them.
A Gyeongbuk Office of Education official said the office did not request separate submissions because it could not confirm whether each school had consented to provide the information, and that it ultimately decided to keep the records confidential.
The decision has angered parents. “Parents pay for the uniforms, but we have no way of knowing how prices were set,” several parents said. “Refusing to release documents while collusion allegations are on the table only fuels the perception that the office is protecting vendors rather than addressing the concerns.”
Education insiders made a similar point, saying the refusal to disclose documents only deepens suspicions given past collusion cases. They urged the office to release the records and subject the bidding to transparent review.
In fact, after this outlet raised suspicions of price-fixing among uniform vendors in Gumi in a Jan. 20, 2025 report (Illegal, Unfair Practices Dominate Gyeongbuk School Uniform Bids), the Fair Trade Commission in June of the same year fined six uniform dealers in Gumi a total of 190 million KRW (approximately $142,500).
The commission’s investigation found that from 2019 to 2023 these firms prearranged winning bidders and bid prices and operated so-called “straw bids” in roughly 230 school-led joint-purchase uniform tenders across 48 middle and high schools in Gumi, Gimcheon and Chilgok.
According to data released by the commission, as of 2023 major dealers such as School Looks’ Gumi branch (about 1,015,000,000 KRW, approximately $761,250) and Ivy Club’s Gumi branch (about 753,000,000 KRW, approximately $564,750) reported sales ranging from several hundred million to around one billion KRW.
The Gyeongbuk Office of Education’s decision to withhold the uniform-bid records has intensified local suspicions that the office is shielding the uniform companies.
Some education figures argue that the current school-led purchasing system may have become a breeding ground for collusion, since similar price structures have reappeared even after the Fair Trade Commission’s crackdown. They are calling for a comprehensive review of the joint uniform-purchase system and for reforms to the bidding process.
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