By Lee Hyo-sik
Hyundai Motor Group was fined the most for unfair business practices among the country’s top 30 conglomerates over the past five years.
According to data submitted to Rep. Park Yong-jin of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), Sunday, the anti-trust agency fined Korea’s second-largest business group a combined 349.6 billion won ($317.8 million) from January 2012 through September this year.
Hyundai Motor and its affiliates violated the Fair Trade Act on 64 occasions, according to the data. Of the 64, the companies were slapped with fines in 26 instances, and referred to the prosecution by the FTC in 12 cases.
“Hyundai Motor Group, which has long been criticized for discriminating against Korean consumers, has been engaged in a wide range of unfair practices by using its dominant market position,” Park said. “The FTC and other government agencies should look more closely into how the automaker treats consumers differently from country to country and its other unfair behavior.”
Samsung Group came in second as its affiliates were fined a total of 283.2 billion won for an array of antitrust practices over the past five years. Samsung units were ordered to pay fines in 19 cases and referred to the prosecution 10 times.
POSCO and its units were also slapped with a 217.6 billion won fine, the third most, as they were caught breaking the antitrust law 49 times. FTC imposed fines on the steelmaker and its subsidiaries 21 times, while asking prosecutors to launch a probe into 13 cases.
According to the data, Lotte Group was found to have breached the fair trade law most frequently at 124 times. The retail and hospitality-focused chaebol has numerous business partners and deals with hundreds of thousands of consumers every day, making it “easier” for its employees to be involved in unfair practices.
By company, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, the building arm of Hyundai Motor Group, was fined the most at 241 billion for being engaged in high-profile construction bid rigging. Daelim Industrial came in second with 147.4 billion won, followed by SK Engineering & Construction at 115.2 billion won.
Among telecom firms, FTC fined SK Telecom 47.1 billion won over the past five years, as it was involved in a host of unfair business schemes to keep the No. 1 spot in the highly competitive mobile telecommunication market. KT was also ordered to pay 16.6 billion won in fines.