Sugar products are displayed at a store in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap
Korea’s three major sugar producers — CJ CheilJedang, Samyang and TS — have been fined a combined 408.2 billion won ($282 million) for colluding to fix sugar prices, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Thursday.
CJ CheilJedang was fined 150 billion won, while Samyang and TS were slapped with penalties of 130 billion won and 127 billion won, respectively.
According to the FTC, the companies conspired to fix prices on eight occasions over roughly four years, from February 2021 to April 2025. The fine marks the second-largest ever imposed by the regulator in a collusion case.
The sugar industry is heavily regulated worldwide to protect domestic makers from volatile global prices. However, the firms engaged in the illegal practice at a time when consumers were suffering from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FTC said.
The hefty penalties come as the Lee Jae Myung administration steps up efforts to tighten oversight of price-fixing practices.
Earlier this month, Lee praised prosecutors for indicting 52 executives on charges of price-fixing involving daily necessities such as flour, sugar and electricity.
Source: Korea Times News
