The businesses face a combined fine of
Founded that same year,
According to KFTC investigations, the four affiliates helped
Antitrust authorities consider that
Still, the commission said it had found no evidence to show that the family that owned the conglomerate, including Lee, were involved in the case.
These kinds of practices are seen as what allows "chaebol" (the giant South Korean family conglomerates) to make significant profits by having subsidiaries award lucrative contracts to each other, undermining the principle of fair competition.
Together, the five affiliates will be given the highest antitrust fine in South Korean history, while
The technology company regretted the commission's ruling and said it plans to take legal action.
"It is regrettable that the business activity that we've done for employees' welfare was judged as unfair support," the company said in a statement. "We plan to take legal actions to vindicate it was normal transactions." EFE
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