Fair Trade Commission Files Criminal Complaint Against Park Chan-gu, Chairman of Kumho Petrochemical

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to file charges against Park Chan-gu, chairman of Kumho Petrochemical. It was determined that Chairman Park submitted false information to the FTC by omitting data related to four companies in which his relatives held shares from 2018 to 2021.

On the 8th, the Fair Trade Commission announced that it found Park Chan-gu, the designated person of Kumho Petrochemical, to have violated Article 67 of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, and decided to report him to the prosecution. The FTC judged that Chairman Park had a significant awareness of submitting false designated data.

Chairman Park omitted the companies Ginomotors and Ginotrade, owned by his eldest brother-in-law (second-degree relative), from the designated data submitted to the FTC between 2018 and 2020. The FTC explained, "Although the two companies, wholly owned (100% shares) by the eldest brother-in-law’s family, could have been easily identified as affiliates based solely on shareholding requirements, the designated data submitted omitted these companies."

Chairman Park also omitted Jungjin Logistics and JS Pacific, companies owned by his second brother-in-law (second-degree relative), from the designated data in 2018. Jungjin Logistics was also wholly owned (100% shares) by the brother-in-law’s family, making it easy to determine affiliate status based on shareholding alone, yet the data submitted omitted this company as well. Notably, in 2021, even after the FTC requested confirmation regarding the affiliate status of family-owned companies during the designated data submission process, Chairman Park internally reviewed but concealed Jungjin Logistics, owned by the second brother-in-law.

The FTC considered that Chairman Park personally received reports on the designated data, affixed his seal, and signed by hand; that he had long been aware of the four companies owned by his relatives; and that the omitted companies were wholly owned by close relatives of the designated person, making it easy to determine their affiliate status. The FTC stated, "In this case, both the awareness and the seriousness on the part of the designated person were significant, leading to the decision to file charges."

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