The Korea Fair Trade Commission said on the 6th that it has completed its probe into alleged unfair support by Myeongnyundang, which operates Myeongnyun Jinsa Galbi, and its affiliated lend companies, and will refer the case to a full commission meeting for deliberation.
According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) investigation, Myeongnyundang established 14 affiliated lend firms from 2021 to 2024. It then borrowed policy funds from KDB Industrial Bank and provided lending to each affiliated lend firm with a limit of 10 billion won per firm. The annual interest rate was 4.6%.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) found that when Myeongnyundang extended loans to the affiliated lend firms, the affiliates were newly established companies that had difficulty raising funds on their own. It also assessed that if the affiliated lend firms had borrowed from financial institutions other than Myeongnyundang, they would have borrowed at an interest rate higher than 4.6% per year. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) determined that the 14 lend firms received about 21.7 billion won in economic benefits from Myeongnyundang by bearing less interest than they would normally have to pay.
Accordingly, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) applied a suspected violation of Article 45, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 9 of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, which prohibits transactions such as lending on significantly favorable terms to related parties. It proposed corrective orders and a penalty surcharge on Myeongnyundang and its affiliates, along with opinions to file complaints against the corporation and individuals.
A Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) official said, "We plan to reach a final decision on the level of sanctions at the full commission meeting through procedures such as providing Myeongnyundang an opportunity to state its views."