Goyang City Reports 'Ilsan Bridge and National Pension Service for Unfair Trade and Tax Evasion Suspicions'

Goyang City, "Unfair Recovery of High-Interest Loans and Paid-in Capital Reduction Funds"

Last November, Lee Jae-jun, mayor of Goyang City, announced a joint statement regarding the second public disposition of Ilsan Bridge. [Goyang City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Goyang City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 17th that it has filed reports with the Fair Trade Commission and the Incheon Regional Tax Office regarding unfair trade practices and corporate tax evasion by Ilsan Bridge Co., Ltd. and the National Pension Service.

The city added, "Following the report of unfair trade practices by Ilsan Bridge Co., Ltd. and the National Pension Service to the Fair Trade Commission on the 7th of last month, on the 16th we reported to the Incheon Regional Tax Office that the revenue structure of Ilsan Bridge deteriorated due to these unfair trade practices, and that Ilsan Bridge Co., Ltd. also evaded corporate taxes."

The city judged that the National Pension Service, which owns 100% of the shares of Ilsan Bridge Co., Ltd., is a related party, and that the high-interest subordinated loan agreement constitutes an unfair support act under the Fair Trade Act and also violates the Corporate Tax Act.

Earlier, the city filed a lawsuit last September to cancel the toll imposition on Ilsan Bridge, claiming its unfairness, and in November, requested an investigation into the current and former CEOs of Ilsan Bridge Co., Ltd.

On the same day, Lee Jae-jun, mayor of Goyang City, said, "A thorough investigation is needed into whether the high-interest loans and capital recovery through paid-in capital reduction made between Ilsan Bridge Co., Ltd. and its major shareholder, the National Pension Service, which owns 100% of the shares, were truly fair."

He continued, "It is unfair to enter into a loan agreement with a related parent company while paying an expensive interest rate of 20% despite sufficient collateral."

Mayor Lee claims that Ilsan Bridge Co., Ltd. and the National Pension Service violated the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (Fair Trade Act) by providing unfair support, and created a structure through high-interest loans that allowed them to evade corporate taxes.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province achieved the cancellation of the designation of Ilsan Bridge Co., Ltd., the operator of Ilsan Bridge, as a project implementer and the toll-free operation of Ilsan Bridge on October 26 of last year as a public interest measure.

However, Ilsan Bridge Co., Ltd. filed an appeal lawsuit, and the court ruled in favor of Ilsan Bridge Co., Ltd., resulting in the resumption of toll collection on Ilsan Bridge from midnight on November 18 of last year.

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