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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Top executives from Daesang and Sajo CPK—two leading players in South Korea’s starch sweetener industry—are set to face a court decision on their potential arrest on March 31 over allegations of large-scale price collusion.
According to legal sources, Judge Kim Jin-man of the Seoul Central District Court will conduct pre-arrest hearings (warrant review hearings) from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for three individuals, including Daesang CEO Lim (surname withheld), a senior business division executive, and the CEO of Sajo CPK.
The executives are accused of violating the Fair Trade Act by prearranging sales prices of starch sweeteners and corn by-products, and colluding on bid prices in tenders involving major corporate buyers such as OB Beer and Seoul Milk.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office’s Fair Trade Investigation Division suspects that Daesang and Sajo CPK—ranked first and second in the domestic starch sweetener market—played leading roles in the alleged cartel. Authorities further believe that four major companies—Daesang, Sajo CPK, Samyang Corp., and CJ CheilJedang—colluded over an eight-year period in price-fixing schemes worth approximately KRW 10 trillion.
As part of the investigation, prosecutors conducted raids on the headquarters of the four companies last month and summoned dozens of current and former executives for questioning. They also exercised their right to request formal complaints from the Fair Trade Commission on two occasions, a prerequisite for indictment under Korean antitrust law.
Separately, prosecutors have classified collusion cases involving essential consumer goods—including flour and sugar—as “crimes disrupting the livelihood economy,” and have previously brought charges against executives in similar cases.
Seven flour producers, including Sajo DongA One and Samyang Corp., were indicted without detention for allegedly colluding on flour prices worth KRW 5.99 trillion. In addition, three sugar producers—including CJ CheilJedang and Samyang Corp.—were brought to trial in November last year over alleged price-fixing involving KRW 3.27 trillion.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
