When it comes to fair trade, Lotte group comes in last

Lotte Group violated the Fair Trade Act most among the nation’s top five conglomerates, a report by an opposition lawmaker said based on data from the government.

SK came in at number two, followed by Samsung, LG and Hyundai Motor.

According to a press release by Rep. Shin Hak-yong of the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, who requested data from the Fair Trade Commission, the number of times that Lotte Group has been found guilty of violating the Fair Trade Act has mounted to 147 since 2005.

But 88 of them were regarded as minor transgressions and only prompted warnings from the government.

Although the Lotte Group violated the law the most, it paid the least in penalties, totaling 67.9 billion won ($56.3 million) over the period - one-tenth the amount of fines paid by Samsung Group, the report said.

Shin said the Fair Trade Commission was effectively neglecting misdemeanors by imposing overly light punishments.