Last Year, Fair Trade Commission's Corporate Group Division Imposed 140 Billion Won in Fines... 30 Times Increase Compared to 2019

Rep. Yoon Chang-hyun Discloses Fair Trade Commission's Fine Imposition Details
Fair Trade Commission: "Due to Completion of Investigation Cases"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Last year, the fines imposed by the Fair Trade Commission's Corporate Group Division amounted to 140 billion KRW, increasing more than 30 times in one year.

According to data received by Rep. Yoon Chang-hyun of the People Power Party from the Fair Trade Commission on the 18th, the fines imposed by the Corporate Group Division from January to November last year totaled 140.714 billion KRW, which is over 3000% increase compared to the entire amount in 2019 (4.533 billion KRW).

The Corporate Group Division was newly established in September 2017. Since then, investigations focusing on unfair internal transactions within large and medium-sized corporate groups have increased, and in the third year since its launch, many sanctions were imposed last year. The fines imposed in the first year of its establishment were 2.43 billion KRW, 31.99 billion KRW in 2018, and 4.533 billion KRW in 2019.

In fact, last year, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a fine of 4.39 billion KRW on Mirae Asset Group, and levied the largest-ever fine related to unfair support of 64.7 billion KRW on SPC Group. Kumho Asiana Group was fined 32 billion KRW, and former chairman Park Sam-gu was also prosecuted.

A Fair Trade Commission official explained, "The significant increase in fines imposed last year is due to the time lag from the start of investigations to sanctions," adding, "It usually takes about 2 to 3 years, and with the launch of the Corporate Group Division in 2017, the scale of fines imposed increased last year."