Prosecutors sought prison sentences for former CJ CheilJedang food head for Korea Kim Sang-ik and former Samyang Corporation CEO Choi Nak-hyun, who were indicted and detained on charges of colluding to fix sugar prices.
On Apr. 9, at the closing hearing in the case of violations of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act against former head Kim, former CEO Choi and others, held before Judge Ryu Ji-mi of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 5 single-judge bench, prosecutors sought three years in prison and a fine of 100 million won for former head Kim, and two years and six months in prison and a fine of 70 million won for former CEO Choi, respectively. Current and former employees of CJ CheilJedang and Samyang Corporation facing the same charges also faced requests for prison terms and fines.
Prosecutors said, "Sugar refiners that oligopolize the domestic sugar market colluded to fix sugar prices for years in an organized way, causing significant harm to ordinary consumers," and noted, "Considering that the corporations at issue were punished in the past for collusion, the nature of the crime is very poor."
Prosecutors added, "This collusion case is not an individual deviation but an organized crime that reached up to the corporate representatives," and said, "There is a need to sound a warning to a market that takes collusion lightly, and punishment commensurate with this is necessary for the defendants to eradicate collusion."
Prosecutors have emphasized the need to punish individuals involved in collusion cases. Their view is that administrative sanctions focused on corrective measures or the imposition of a penalty surcharge make it difficult to eradicate collusion cases. This is because a penalty surcharge is treated as a corporate expense, which can instead shift the harm onto consumers.
Minister Jung Sung-ho of the Ministry of Justice also said in Feb., "We must make people think of collusion not as 'a business that still turns a profit even if caught,' but as 'if you collude, both the company and my life are ruined,' so that we can block unfair foul play and protect people's livelihoods."
In their final statements that day, former head Kim and former CEO Choi said to the effect that "we have acknowledged all the facts of the indictment in this case from the early stages of the investigation. We fully accept responsibility."