The South Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has taken significant steps to address unethical practices within the funeral industry, particularly regarding the provision of rebates to funeral directors by funeral service providers. This move follows a case in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, where a funeral home was penalized for giving 340 million won in rebates to funeral directors for referring bereaved families. The FTC's investigation aims to address the pervasive nature of rebate practices that compromise fair customer choices and inflate funeral costs indirectly.

According to the FTC, the Yangju funeral home, known as Yangju Korean Hospital Funeral Culture Center, provided these rebates between November 2021 and August 2025 to directors affiliated with 112 different service providers. The rebates were categorized as 'call fees' and 'altar flower R', with the former offering a payment of 700,000 won for each family referral and the latter dictating that bereaved families purchase altar flowers from a designated shop, receiving 30% of the purchase amount in return. This practice not only infringed upon fair trading laws but also revealed that the home was setting prices with the rebate costs factored in, effectively penalizing families who chose directors who refused to partake in such practices.

This marks the first instance of rebates in the funeral sector being addressed under the Fair Trade Act. The FTC, considering the small scale of the funeral home, which has annual sales of about 1 billion won, opted for a corrective order rather than financial penalties. The FTC's enforcement director, Ryu Yong-rae, noted that many funeral home employees did not recognize giving rebates as problematic, viewing it as a customary reward rather than an unethical practice. There is a growing sentiment from the FTC to eradicate these rebate practices in order to foster competition based on price and service quality, rather than on unethical incentives.