Prosecutors from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Fair Trade Investigation Division received commendations for excellence after indicting 52 individuals in connection with price-fixing schemes involving flour, sugar, and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) procurement bids totaling approximately 10 trillion won ($7 billion).
Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho on Tuesday presented the awards to six prosecutors: Senior Prosecutor Na Hee-seok (37th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), Deputy Senior Prosecutor Moon Jung-shin (40th class), Prosecutor Lee Han-byul (2nd bar exam), Prosecutor Cho Hyuk (3rd bar exam), Prosecutor Na Hye-yoon (44th class), and Prosecutor Choi Min-hyuk (44th class).
The team conducted intensive investigations from September last year through January, indicting 52 individuals in collusion cases affecting consumer prices for sugar, flour, and electrical equipment. In the flour case, 20 individuals were indicted without detention, including CEOs from six milling companies: Daehan Flour Mills, Sajo Dongaone, Samyang Corporation, Daisun Flour Mills, Samhwa Flour Mills, and Hantop.
Sugar refiners controlling the oligopolistic market were found to have engaged in price-fixing worth 3.27 trillion won from February 2021 to April last year. Nine executives and employees, including two CEO-level officers from the nation's top two sugar companies, along with two corporate entities, were indicted without detention.
The division has recently launched a second phase of investigations, conducting raids on four domestic food companies suspected of fixing prices for starch and starch syrup products.
"Following the swift and rigorous investigation by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Fair Trade Investigation Division to establish fair trade order, sugar and flour companies have begun lowering prices," Minister Jung said. "Even as the criminal justice system undergoes changes ahead, I urge prosecutors to remain steadfast and demonstrate their full capabilities in areas directly affecting people's livelihoods."