Watchdog slaps 11 local soju makers with 27.2 bln won fine for price rigging

SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Thursday that it
has decided to fine 11 local liquor manufacturers more than 27 billion won
(US$23.4 million) for colluding to fix the prices of their products.
Jinro Ltd. and 10 other makers of soju, a popular Korean alcoholic beverage made
from rice and other starches, are subject to the penalty, the Fair Trade
Commission (FTC) said.
The FTC fined Jinro the largest amount of 16.68 billion won, followed by Muhak,
Daesun and Bohae Brewery, which are facing fines of 2.63 billion won, 2.38
billion won and 1.88 billion won, respectively. Including penalties imposed on
smaller firms, the total amount of fines comes to 27.2 billion won.
The move came after the watchdog notified the companies of its plan last November
to penalize them for price-fixing.
The FTC says the soju makers colluded on two separate occasions in May 2007 and
December 2008 to raise the prices of their products. They also covertly
cooperated in marketing activities over the same period.
The companies claim that they simply followed administrative guidelines issued by
the nation's tax agency, which reviewed Jinro's price increase, adding that other
smaller firms usually followed suit based on the extent of the price hike by the
industry's No. 1 player.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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