D&I Automotive, the No. 1 domestic maker of automotive anti-vibration parts, was hit with a 456 million won penalty surcharge and a corrective order from the Fair Trade Commission on the 25th. Anti-vibration parts are devices that reduce vibrations and noise generated by a car's engine and other components.
According to the Fair Trade Commission that day, from Nov. 28, 2019, to Feb. 16, 2023, D&I Automotive outsourced press mold manufacturing to two subcontractors and, in the process of taking delivery, demanded 12 sets of mold drawings on the condition of paying interim or remaining balances. D&I Automotive provided three of the drawings it received to competing subcontractors without consulting the owners, the subcontractors. Some companies succeeded in product development using drawings received from D&I Automotive. This constitutes unfair demands for technical data and misappropriation of technical data prohibited by the Fair Transactions in Subcontracting Act.
The Fair Trade Commission said it will "intensify monitoring of technology theft that undermines the competitive foundation of small and medium-sized enterprises so that the technology and know-how of subcontractors can receive fair evaluation in the market."