South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission’s case examiners recommended rejecting two requests by Korean Air and four affiliated carriers to ease seat-supply obligations imposed after the Asiana Airlines merger. The requests covered a 70% capacity standard on the Cheongju-Jeju route and temporary relief across all covered routes in 2026. The remedies require annual seat capacity on 40 routes to remain at least 90% of 2019 levels. Examiners said the airlines had not shown that circumstances had changed sufficiently to justify altering the measures, despite citing weaker demand, the won-dollar exchange rate, higher oil prices and the war in the Middle East. Separately, they recommended referring Korean Air and three employees to prosecutors after concluding that work files and emails were deleted during a Feb. 2-6, 2026, on-site inspection. The recommendations are not final; the commission’s plenary session will decide after the parties review evidence, submit views and present their defenses. Korean Air said it would contest the obstruction allegation and continue complying with the merger remedies.