South Korea’s antitrust regulator has opened an investigation into four of the country’s leading instant noodle manufacturers over suspected price coordination, broadening a crackdown on potential anticompetitive practices in the food industry.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) sent investigators Wednesday to the offices of Nongshim, Samyang Foods, Ottogi and Paldo to examine whether the companies improperly coordinated instant noodle prices, according to a report by Kim Nam-myung in the Seoul Economic Daily, citing industry sources.
The inspections mark the latest phase of an expanding regulatory investigation into food pricing, following earlier examinations of major manufacturers including CJ CheilJedang and Daesang.
The inquiry is being conducted by a newly established KFTC investigative unit tasked with pursuing significant competition violations, particularly those affecting household expenses.
According to the Seoul Economic Daily, the regulator began inspecting several major food producers on Oct. 14 as part of an investigation covering six categories: kimchi, tofu, cooking oils, packaged gift sets, ready-to-eat rice and sauces.
Investigators are examining whether manufacturers exchanged information or coordinated pricing decisions dating back to 2018. The broader investigation also includes allegations that suppliers may have restricted retailers’ ability to offer discounts through resale pricing arrangements since 2020, the newspaper reported.
Related: South Korea Raids Top Chicken Chains in Price-Fixing Investigation
The addition of instant noodles extends the investigation into another widely consumed food category and increases regulatory scrutiny of pricing practices among South Korea’s largest packaged-food producers.
We’d love to be your preferred source for news.
Please add us to your preferred sources list so our news, data and interviews show up in your feed. Thanks!
The latest inquiry also revisits an industry that has previously faced substantial antitrust enforcement.
In 2012, the KFTC imposed penalties totaling 135.4 billion won, approximately $94 million at the exchange rate cited by the Seoul Economic Daily, on Nongshim, Samyang Foods, Ottogi and Korea Yakult over allegations of coordinated instant noodle pricing.
Those penalties were subsequently withdrawn in 2016 following Supreme Court rulings that overturned earlier findings supporting the collusion allegations, according to separate reporting by Yonhap News Agency.
The latest inspections come less than a month after the FTC established its expanded investigative unit on Oct. 1.
The regulator increased the size of its specialized enforcement operation from seven investigators to approximately 40 personnel organized into three divisions, according to the Seoul Economic Daily. The restructuring was designed to strengthen its capacity to pursue complex competition cases involving industries with a direct impact on consumers.
By focusing its initial investigations on food manufacturers, the unit has made pricing practices in consumer staples an early enforcement priority.
The current investigation remains at the information-gathering stage, and the reported inspections do not establish that any of the companies violated competition law.
The KFTC has not publicly detailed its findings in the instant noodle investigation. An agency official declined to confirm specifics of individual cases, according to Yonhap.
Source: Yonhap News Agency