Fair Trade Commission Chairman Jo Sung-wook: "Shipping Companies' Freight Collusion Will Be Handled According to Principles"

Commissioner Cho Sung-wook of the Korea Fair Trade Commission is attending the Central Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on COVID-19 held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 13th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Cho Seongwook, Chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, stated on the 20th that he will "handle it according to the principles" regarding the price-fixing case involving domestic and international shipping companies.

On the same day, Chairman Cho responded this way to a question from Oh Ki-hyung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, during the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee plenary session, asking, "Will the (shipping companies' collusion) be handled in principle according to the Fair Trade Act?"

Earlier, in May, the Fair Trade Commission's examiners sent a review report (equivalent to the prosecution's indictment) to each of the 23 domestic and international shipping companies, including HMM (formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine), stating that they violated the Fair Trade Act and that a fine of up to 800 billion KRW (applying 10% of total sales) should be imposed.

Article 29 of the Shipping Act recognizes joint activities such as freight rates, vessel deployment, and cargo loading by shipping companies. The Fair Trade Commission judges that the shipping companies engaged in illegal joint activities beyond the scope permitted by the Shipping Act.

The Fair Trade Commission plans to hold a plenary session as early as September to reach a conclusion on sanctions related to the shipping companies' price-fixing.

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