"Is the Korean Air-Asiana Merger the Best Option?" Ruling Party Lawmakers Raise Concerns

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Democratic Party lawmakers in their first and second terms belonging to the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee raised concerns on the 17th about the merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, calling it a "transaction that causes monopoly under the Fair Trade Act."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lawmakers Lee Yong-woo, Park Yong-jin, Min Byung-duk, Min Hyung-bae, Song Jae-ho, Oh Ki-hyung, and Lee Jung-moon held a press conference at the National Assembly in the afternoon and said, "A thorough corporate merger review by the Fair Trade Commission is necessary."

They pointed out, "The target of capital injection during the integration process is not Korean Air but Hanjin KAL," adding, "Hanjin KAL is a company involved in a management rights dispute. Injecting funds through third-party allotment to such a company could ultimately be a transaction supporting the controlling family involved in the management rights dispute." They further added, "There is a reasonable suspicion that the Industrial Bank of Korea, which had burdens related to Asiana Airlines, and the controlling family seeking to gain leadership in the management rights dispute, had aligned interests."

They also raised suspicions about the hasty promotion of the Industrial Bank of Korea's integration plan. The lawmakers criticized, "The Industrial Bank of Korea has so far supported Asiana Airlines with 3.3 trillion won and pursued a third-party acquisition, but there were no results. If this integration is promoted, the Industrial Bank of Korea will hold a 10.66% stake in Hanjin KAL. 800 billion won of taxpayers' money will be used for the controlling family of Korean Air and major shareholders and creditors responsible for Asiana Airlines."

They emphasized, "The Industrial Bank of Korea's promotion of the Korean Air and Asiana Airlines integration should be solely for overcoming the crisis in the aviation industry," and stressed, "Injecting funds through third-party allotment itself accelerates disputes among Hanjin KAL shareholders, so a neutral plan regarding the management rights dispute must be prepared."

After the press conference, Lawmaker Oh said to reporters, "We will listen to the opinions of the relevant standing committees and examine what rationality there is going forward."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.