'Food Price-Fixing' Samyang Corporation Tops KFTC Fine Rankings... Food Companies Sweep Top Spots

Cumulative fines topped KRW 430 billion from last year through August

Food companies including CJ CheilJedang and Sajo swept the top spots

Over the past two years or so, Samyang Corporation has received the heaviest fines from the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), while furniture maker Hyundai Livart ranked a distant first in the number of sanctions for violations.

An analysis of data on sanctions against business groups submitted by the KFTC to Park Hongbae, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, found that Samyang Corporation received the largest cumulative fines from 2025 through August 2026, totaling more than KRW 435.3 billion. The company was found to have colluded on prices for three key products—sugar, flour, and starch and starch syrup—and was sanctioned three times in a row this year alone.

CJ CheilJedang, which was also found to have violated the law in connection with the same products, came second, with fines totaling around KRW 373 billion. Sajo CPK, which colluded on starch and starch syrup prices, and Sajo Dongaone, which manipulated flour prices, followed with fines of KRW 200 billion and around KRW 180 billion, respectively. All four of the companies with the highest fines engaged in long-running collusion involving food products directly affecting the cost of living and were referred to prosecutors. Coupang ranked fifth, with more than KRW 165.5 billion in fines, after being found to have engaged in false advertising and violated the Subcontracting Act, among other offenses.

In terms of the number of sanctions for legal violations, Hyundai Livart topped the list, receiving a total of 59 measures. The company received 11 warnings and 48 corrective orders from the KFTC for repeated bid rigging. Hyundai L&C, another affiliate of Hyundai Department Store Group, followed with nine measures. Daebang Industrial Development, Coupang, and Goryeo HC each received seven, while Bando Construction and CJ Logistics each received five, according to the data. A Hyundai Livart official said, "Of the 59 sanctions, 58 were for unfair concerted acts related to built-in products. The number is high because sanctions for the same matter were imposed separately for each ordering party." The official added, "Four of the nine sanctions against Hyundai L&C were also for the same matter."

Park said, "This kind of collusion by major food companies deepens the burden consumers face when shopping for groceries and increases cost pressures on small business owners. The KFTC must rigorously verify whether corrective measures are implemented after sanctions and tighten its monitoring across the food sector."

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