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(Photo=Kolmar Korea) |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Jisun] Kolmar Korea's subsidiary, HNG, is facing sanctions from the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) for unfairly supporting a company owned by the conglomerate head's daughter.
The KFTC announced on the 10th that it decided to impose corrective orders and a fine of 510 million KRW on HNG for providing personnel support to its subsidiary, KBLab. HNG was fined 406 million KRW, and KBLab was fined 104 million KRW.
HNG is a company specializing in Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) and Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) for cosmetics. According to the KFTC investigation, HNG allegedly dispatched up to 15 employees annually to KBLab from August 2016 to May 2020 and covered their salaries. From August 2016 to September 2018, KBLab operated solely with dispatched personnel without hiring its own staff, resulting in a total of 904 million KRW in unfairly supported labor costs.
In September 2018, Yoon Yeowon, daughter of Yoon Dong-han, chairman of Kolmar Korea Holdings, purchased all shares of KBLab for 100,000 KRW. The investigation revealed that Ms. Yoon had planned the support strategies and long-term plans, including the company's listing, from the preparation stage of KBLab's establishment. KBLab's revenue increased dramatically from 42 million KRW in 2016 to 2.547 billion KRW in 2019, over 60 times in three years. Ms. Yoon sold all her shares to a third party in December 2020.
The KFTC determined that KBLab gained an unfair competitive advantage by securing HNG's specialized personnel without effort, solely because it was owned by the conglomerate head's second generation.
AlphaBIZ Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
