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Flour displayed at a large supermarket in Seoul (Photo: Yonhap News) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] South Korean prosecutors have indicted executives from major flour producers after uncovering a large-scale price-fixing scheme involving nearly KRW 6 trillion in flour sales, authorities said on February 2.
The Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office announced that it had indicted six flour milling companies—including Daehan Flour Mills and Samyang Corporation—along with 20 individuals, including current and former chief executives and senior officials, without detention, on charges of violating the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act.
The other companies charged are Sajo DongA One, Daesun Flour Mills, Samhwa Flour Mills, and Hantop. Prosecutors said one additional flour producer was exempted from indictment under South Korea’s leniency program after voluntarily reporting its involvement.
According to prosecutors, the defendants allegedly colluded between January 2020 and October 2024 to coordinate whether flour prices would be raised, as well as the timing and magnitude of those increases, thereby unlawfully restricting market competition.
The total scale of the alleged price-fixing amounted to KRW 5.99 trillion, with prosecutors estimating that the companies generated at least KRW 100 billion in illicit gains through the scheme.
Investigators said flour prices surged by 42.4% compared with pre-collusion levels as of January 2023. Even by July last year, when prosecutors launched a full-scale investigation, prices remained 22.7% higher than before the alleged collusion began.
The prosecution has intensified investigations into crimes that disrupt household finances since September last year. In November, prosecutors also uncovered a separate sugar price-fixing case involving major sugar producers, indicting 11 individuals and companies, including two top executives who were taken into custody, for colluding to manipulate sugar prices.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
