The Korea Fair Trade Commission said on the 7th it imposed a record-high total penalty surcharge of 747.6 billion won on four corporations that colluded on starch sugar prices: Daesang (about 234.1 billion won), Sajo CPK (about 200.1 billion won), Samyang Corporation (about 210.3 billion won), and CJ CheilJedang (about 103.0 billion won). The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) ordered them to reset prices independently and to report any changes every six months for three years.
According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the four corporations that took part in the price-fixing conspiracy agreed on the size and timing of increases and cuts in selling prices a total of 13 times from May 2018 to Oct. 2025. They are dominant operators with a 95.7% share in the domestic starch market and 86.4% in the starch sugar market, and the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) judged that selling prices rose 73% due to the collusion.
The related sales calculated by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) total 6.0525 trillion won. Nam Dong-il, vice chair of the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC), said, "We view this price collusion as a very serious matter and set the penalty surcharge rate at 15%."
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) found that their price collusion violated Article 40, Paragraph 1, Item 1 of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. This provision prohibits business operators from jointly fixing the prices of goods or services.
Meanwhile, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) also determined that they are suspected of bid-rigging for starch sugar, saying it completed the investigation and referred the case to the commission for deliberation. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) saw that from Sept. 2016 to June 2025 they discussed bid prices and colluded by allocating winning volumes. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said related sales would reach 940 billion won.
In addition, it judged that Daesang, Sajo CPK, and Samyang Corporation are suspected of colluding on the prices of starch sugar byproducts. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) saw that from Aug. 2017 to Oct. 2025 they colluded monthly on the selling prices of starch sugar byproduct products, and said related sales would reach 1.55 trillion won.