This year, corporations involved in defense, virtual assets, and shipping have newly been added to the list of publicly disclosed business groups regulated by the Fair Trade Commission. The number of affiliated companies has decreased for the first time in six years, while total assets have increased, resulting in changes to the corporate landscape.
On the 1st, the Fair Trade Commission announced that 92 business groups with total assets of over 5 trillion won (3301 affiliated companies) have been designated as 'publicly disclosed business groups' for 2025. The number of publicly disclosed business groups has increased by four compared to the previous year, while the number of affiliates decreased by 17. These publicly disclosed business groups will be subject to regulations under the Fair Trade Act, including disclosure obligations and the prohibition of unfair benefits to related parties.
◇ Dunamu climbs 17 ranks… 'cold wind' in the insurance industry
Five corporations, including LIG, Daekwang, Sajo, Bithumb, and U-Kock Carrier, which exceeded 5 trillion won in assets, have newly been included in the publicly disclosed business groups. They primarily focus on defense, housing construction and leasing, food distribution, virtual asset transactions, and shipping, and have been included in the regulatory target due to recent favorable market conditions and asset growth. Notably, Sajo's acquisition of seven food distribution and manufacturing companies, such as Foodist and Sajo CPK, is a key factor behind the increase in assets.
Shipping, defense, and virtual assets are industries that have rapidly grown due to common geopolitical risks and changes in market conditions. A Fair Trade Commission official analyzed, "The rise in freight rates in the Middle East, soaring exchange rates, global military build-up, and the activation of virtual asset trading have influenced the asset increases of these corporations."
Among them, 46 groups with assets of over 11.6 trillion won have been designated as 'inter-company mutual investment restriction business groups.' Dunamu (15.9 trillion won) jumped 17 ranks compared to last year due to an increase of 6.4 trillion won in assets, moving from a publicly disclosed group to an upward investment restriction group. Hankook & Company (21.5 trillion won) also saw its ranking rise by 22 spots, including it in the upward investment restriction group.
Dunamu's entry into the upward investment restriction group is directly attributed to the surge in virtual asset transaction volumes since the end of last year, leading to an increase in customer deposits. Hankook & Company, which acquired three companies, including Hanon Systems, saw its assets more than double compared to the previous year.
In contrast, Kyobo Life Insurance (13.2 trillion won → 11.1 trillion won), Taeyoung (12.3 trillion won → 9.8 trillion won), and Ecopro (11.2 trillion won → 9.4 trillion won) saw their assets decline, resulting in their demotion from the upward investment restriction group to the publicly disclosed group. Among these, the insurance companies experienced asset reductions due to the impact of the Financial Supervisory Service's decrease in insurance liability discount rates. Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance also saw its assets decrease from 6.71 trillion won to 5.56 trillion won, dropping from 68th to 81st place. Ecopro was affected by the decline in stock prices of its subsidiaries related to secondary batteries.
◇ Coupang and Dunamu maintain 'corporate same person' status this year
This year, both Coupang and Dunamu have been designated as 'same person' corporations. The Fair Trade Commission explained that it determined both companies met all the criteria for exceptions to being recognized as the same person under last year's revised enforcement ordinance.
Coupang and Dunamu are each known to have Bom Kim, the Chairman of Coupang, and Chi-Hyung Song, the Chairman of Dunamu, as the practical owners of the groups, but the Fair Trade Commission recognized the corporations themselves as the same person rather than these individuals.
The criteria for designating a corporation as the same person include: ▲ the scope of domestic affiliates will not change regardless of whether a natural person or corporation is considered the same person; ▲ the natural person controlling the business group (excluding investments from companies that are same persons) and their relatives do not invest in domestic affiliates; ▲ relatives do not serve as executives or participate in management; ▲ there is no debt guarantee or financial transactions involving the natural person and their relatives.