Seoul: The antitrust regulator announced charges against Chung Mong-gyu, chairman of HDC Hyundai Development Co., for failing to include several subsidiaries in filings subject to interaffiliate trading regulations.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Chung is accused of submitting false information in annual filings from 2021 to 2023, which underreported the number of subsidiaries within his conglomerate. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) reported that after removing duplicates, a total of 20 companies, primarily managed by his family members, were omitted from the filings. These companies have combined assets exceeding 1 trillion won (US$670 million).

The FTC emphasized that given Chung's extensive tenure as head of the group and the continued family involvement in the business, it is highly likely he was aware of the false submissions. The commission also noted that some of these firms had been exempt from interaffiliate trading regulations for up to 19 years, thereby bypassing rules on private profit extraction and disclosure obligations.

Under existing laws, large groups subject to monitoring are defined as those whose total domestic affiliate assets surpass 0.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product.