[2026 National Assembly Audit] "Food Company CEOs" Bow Over Collusion... Fines for Sugar, Flour, and Starch Sugar Top 2 Trillion Won

CJ CheilJedang CEO Kim Chanho: "Completely Blocked Contact with Competitors"
Samyang Corporation CEO Lee Woonik: "Collusion Rules to Be Specified in Employment Regulations"

Food company executives bowed their heads during a National Assembly audit over a sugar and flour price-fixing case involving 10 trillion won.

Kim Chanho, CEO of CJ CheilJedang, and Lee Woonik, CEO of Samyang Corporation, appeared as general witnesses on October 7 at the National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee’s audit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and pledged to prevent a recurrence.

“I bow my head in apology for undermining fair trade and failing to live up to expectations,” Kim said. “We are conducting a comprehensive review of our corporate systems and putting things right from the ground up.”

He added, “We have withdrawn from organizations such as the Korea Flour Mills Industrial Association and completely blocked contact with competitors. Nevertheless, we will make sure to verify any meetings with competitors that may still occur. We are also emphasizing through training that collusion must never take place at CJ CheilJedang. We will take disciplinary action against employees involved in collusion and operate an internal leniency program so that we can become a company committed to compliance.”

Lee also pledged to strengthen internal controls and compliance. “We are a company supported by the government and the National Assembly, and we are sorry that we failed to uphold that trust,” he said. “We are taking corrective measures and putting them into effect to ensure that nothing like collusion happens again. We will build an irreversible internal system and spell out the rules on collusion in our employment regulations and workplace policies to prevent this from happening again.”

Food companies generated nearly 15 trillion won in sales through collusion uncovered this year by investigations conducted by the Fair Trade Commission and prosecutors. The Fair Trade Commission imposed fines of 396 billion won in connection with sugar price-fixing, 671 billion won for flour, and 747.6 billion won for starch and starch-based sweeteners. The combined fines in the three cases exceed 2 trillion won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.