'Unfair Trade' Kumho Asiana Executive and Former Fair Trade Commission Employee Indicted and Detained

On the 16th, during the Ministerial Meeting on Strengthening Industrial Competitiveness, the plan for Hanjin Group's acquisition of Asiana Airlines was discussed. This is a view of Kumho Asiana headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] A Fair Trade Commission employee who received money from an executive of Kumho Asiana Group and deleted data unfavorable to the company has been arrested and sent to trial.

According to the legal community on the 11th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Fair Trade Investigation Division (Chief Prosecutor Kim Min-hyung) indicted former FTC employee Song and former Kumho Asiana Group Strategy Management Office Executive Director Yoon. Song is charged with evidence tampering and bribery, while former Executive Director Yoon is charged with evidence tampering and bribery offering.

Song, who was in charge of digital forensic data analysis at the FTC, is accused of receiving hundreds of thousands of won worth of money and entertainment from former Executive Director Yoon between 2014 and 2018 and deleting some data unfavorable to the Kumho Group from the materials submitted to the FTC.

Earlier, in August last year, the FTC imposed corrective orders and a fine of 32 billion won on Kumho Asiana Group for unfairly supporting Kumho Express (Kumho Holdings), which has a high ownership stake by the group’s chairman, through affiliates such as Asiana Airlines. In addition, Kumho Industrial, Asiana Airlines, former Chairman Park Sam-gu, former Executive Director Yoon, and two other executives of the group’s Strategy Management Office at the time were reported to the prosecution.

In response, the prosecution raided Kumho Asiana Group’s headquarters and Asiana Airlines’ office in Gangseo-gu in November last year, securing accounting books and electronic data. During the investigation, it was confirmed that there was an illicit transaction between former Executive Director Yoon and Song. Song and former Executive Director Yoon were arrested on the 24th and 28th of last month, respectively.

The prosecution, which sent the two to trial, is expanding the investigation to determine whether their crimes were committed at the group level rather than individually. The investigation into the unfair internal transactions reported by the FTC is also ongoing.

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