Fair Trade Commission Likely to Award at Least 2 Billion KRW to Whistleblower in Scrap Metal Collusion Case

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] A whistleblower who reported the price-fixing of scrap metal purchases by seven steelmakers, including Hyundai Steel, is expected to receive a reward of at least 2.05 billion KRW.

According to related government departments on the 19th, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) plans to pay a reward to the whistleblower who revealed the scrap metal price-fixing case after deliberation by the Review Committee. Previously, the KFTC detected price-fixing of scrap metal purchase base prices by seven companies including Hyundai Steel, Dongkuk Steel, and Daehan Steel, imposing a total fine of 300.083 billion KRW and issuing corrective orders.

The KFTC provides rewards to whistleblowers who report secretive collusion. According to the "Regulations on Reward Payments for Reporting Violations of the Fair Trade Act," the basic reward amount is set at 10% of the total fine if it is 5 billion KRW or less, 5% if it exceeds 5 billion KRW but is 20 billion KRW or less, and 2% if it exceeds 20 billion KRW.

However, the full amount is not always paid; depending on the level of evidence or information provided, the reward is paid at 30% to 100% of the basic amount, categorized as highest, high, medium, or low.

By simple calculation under these regulations, the whistleblower could receive a reward of 6.85 billion KRW. However, since the maximum reward limit is 3 billion KRW, only up to 3 billion KRW can be received. Even if the evidence submitted by the whistleblower is rated at the "low" level, a reward of 2.05 billion KRW can be received.

A KFTC official explained, "The payment and amount of the reward to the whistleblower will be decided through deliberation by the Whistleblower Reward Review Committee in the future."

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