Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and SK won a final victory on the 26th in a lawsuit they filed requesting the cancellation of the sanctions imposed by the Fair Trade Commission, including a penalty surcharge, related to accusations that they gained undue profits in the process of acquiring equity in SK Siltron (currently LG Siltron).
The Supreme Court's Second Division, led by Chief Justice Eom Sang-pil, upheld the second trial's ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed by SK and Chairman Chey Tae-won against the Fair Trade Commission regarding the cancellation of the corrective order and penalty surcharge.
In January 2017, SK acquired 51% of the equity of LG Siltron, a semiconductor wafer production company, and in April of the same year, purchased only an additional 19.6% of the remaining 49%. Subsequently, Chairman Chey purchased the remaining 29.4%. The Fair Trade Commission issued a penalty surcharge of 800 million won and a corrective order against Chairperson Chey and SK in December 2021, stating that his acquisition of SK Siltron had deprived the holding company SK of business opportunities.
When Chairman Chey expressed his intention to acquire the remaining equity of Siltron, SK conceded without reasonable review, resulting in the business opportunity returning to Chairman Chey, as assessed by the Fair Trade Commission. The Commission concluded that Chairman Chey and SK violated the prohibition of misappropriating business opportunities defined in the Fair Trade Act.
Chairman Chey and SK filed a lawsuit in April 2022 to contest the Fair Trade Commission's decision. The penalty surcharge case by the Fair Trade Commission proceeds in a sequence of being tried first at the Seoul High Court and then at the Supreme Court.
The Seoul High Court ruled last January to cancel the Fair Trade Commission's sanctions. The court stated, "The evidence submitted by the Fair Trade Commission is insufficient to conclude that SK provided a business opportunity to Chairman Chey."
It continued, "The interpretation of the act of providing business opportunities must not go beyond the ordinary meaning of the text," adding, "Administrative regulations must be interpreted and applied strictly, and should not be over-expanded or inferred in a way that is unfavorable to the party subject to the administrative disposition."
The Fair Trade Commission appealed against this decision. However, the Supreme Court saw no problems with the second trial judgment and confirmed the victory of Chairman Chey and SK on the same day.