Samsung Faces Administrative Lawsuit Against Fair Trade Commission Over 230 Billion KRW Fine for 'Meal Ticket Favoritism'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Samsung, which was fined over 230 billion won for allegedly funneling in-house meal service contracts to its affiliates, has filed an administrative lawsuit against the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in court.

According to industry sources on the 29th, four Samsung companies?Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Samsung SDI?filed a lawsuit at the Seoul High Court yesterday seeking cancellation of the FTC's corrective orders and fine imposition. They also requested a suspension of the execution of the FTC's fines and corrective orders.

Earlier, in June, the FTC imposed a fine of approximately 230 billion won on these four companies, stating that from 2013, under the leadership of Samsung's Future Strategy Office, all in-house meal service volumes were funneled exclusively to Samsung Welstory. The FTC also reported former Future Strategy Office chief Choi Ji-sung and Samsung Electronics to the prosecution for leading the unfair support.

Samsung immediately opposed the decision, stating that it was difficult to accept due to one-sided facts and legal judgments, and had previously announced its intention to file an administrative lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics opened two in-house cafeterias at its Suwon and Giheung plants to external companies for the first time in the first half of this year, and last month, it opened six additional in-house cafeterias.

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