SEOUL, April 20 (Yonhap) — South Korean home appliance maker Cuchen Co. faces a fine of 922 million won ($747,042) for arbitrarily transferring technical data from subcontractors to other companies, antitrust regulators said on Wednesday.
From 2015 to 2018, Cuchen, known as a big brand of rice cookers, received 13 technical data from its subcontractors that produce printed circuit boards for household appliances.
According to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), Cuchen repeatedly sent data to the subcontractor’s competitors from 2018 to 2019 to cancel the contract with the subcontractor as subcontractors demanded higher prices for their components. Supply contracts and agreements with new companies..
These unfair practices culminated in the termination of the contract between Cuchen and the subcontractor in 2019.
The FTC said the subcontractor provided Cuchen with its technical data based on trust in its business relationship with Cuchen, but the appliance maker misused the subcontractor’s sensitive technical data for its own benefit.
The regulator also decided to refer the case to prosecutors for further investigation into who directed the alleged illegal conduct.
Post time: Apr-30-2022