TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Lotte becomes No. 1 fair trade rule violatorv

The under-construction Lotte Tower in South-Eastern Seoul on Monday

Park Han-na (The Jakarta Post)
Tue, September 8, 2015

Share This Article

Change Size

Lotte becomes No. 1 fair trade rule violatorv Lotte Tower: The under-construction Lotte Tower in South-Eastern Seoul on Monday. (AFP/Ed Jones) (AFP/Ed Jones)

The under-construction Lotte Tower in South-Eastern Seoul on Monday. (AFP/Ed Jones)

Retail giant Lotte Group has broken fair trade rules the most among South Korea's large conglomerates over the past 10 years, data showed Monday.

The Fair Trade Commission data showed that South Korea'€™s fifth-largest conglomerate was charged and fined a total of 147 times for breaching rules of the antitrust watchdog since 2005.

The number of Lotte'€™s unfair practices accounts for over 22 per cent of the 649 cases brought against the country'€™s top five largest conglomerates during the period.

SK ranked second with 143 cases followed by Samsung, LG and Hyundai Motor, according to the report submitted to Rep. Shin Hak-yong of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy.

Shin said that corporations had crossed the line by violating rules over a dozen times a year.

'€œThe Fair Trade Commission'€™s soft punishment of only giving out warnings has contributed to corporations'€™ loosened morals,'€ he said.

Lotte put itself under the spotlight after a recent succession feud between chairman Shin Dong-bin and his brother exposed its complicated governance structure and opaque management system.

NPAD Rep. Kim Ki-sik said on Monday that his party and the ruling party agreed to summon the Lotte chairman for the upcoming annual National Assembly audit sessions slated for September 10- October 8.

By the amount of fines, however, Samsung led the list with 684.5 billion won, more than 10 times that of Lotte at 67 billion won. Lotte has faced the least fines among the rule breakers.

The antitrust watchdog said 88 of Lotte'€™s violations were subjected to administrative warnings for minor violations.

Samsung also had the largest number of cases in which the FTC filed complaints with the prosecution. The group had 14 fair trade violations referred to the prosecution, closely followed by SK and Hyundai Motor at 13 and 12, respectively. (++++)

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.