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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] The first court hearing for executives of six South Korean flour milling companies accused of price collusion will take place next month.
According to industry sources on April 1, Judge Ryu Ji-mi of the Seoul Central District Court is scheduled to hold the first trial on May 7 at 10:50 a.m. for defendants charged with violating the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act.
Prosecutors indicted six major flour producers—including Daehan Flour Mills, Sajo DongA One, Samyang Corporation, Daesun Flour Mills, Samhwa Flour Mills, and Handtop—along with 14 executives and employees without detention in February.
The defendants are accused of colluding from January 2020 to October last year by prearranging whether to raise flour prices, as well as the timing and scale of such increases, thereby distorting market competition. The total scale of the alleged collusion is estimated at KRW 5.99 trillion.
During the period in question, flour prices rose by as much as 42.4% and, despite some subsequent declines, have remained approximately 22.7% higher than pre-collusion levels, according to prosecutors.
Separately, a related trial involving sugar price-fixing allegations—filed in November last year against CJ CheilJedang and Samyang Corporation—is also ongoing at the same court.
Following the emergence of collusion allegations, flour and sugar producers have recently begun lowering prices in succession.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
