The Korea Customs Service (KSC) announced on Thursday that it will stick to its plan to select new duty-free shop operators on December 17 although some of the corporate candidates are under probe for alleged favoritism in return for handsome donations they had handed over to charity groups at the request of the president.

The KSC reaffirmed bidders for new licenses including Hotel Lotte, HDC Shilla Duty Free and Shinsegae DF that its plan to announce the finalists by mid-December hasn’t changed.

But among the five contestants, Lotte Group and SK Group have made hefty donations to K-Sports Foundation and Mi-R Foundation, scandal-ridden nonprofit organizations linked to Choi Soon-sil, longtime friend of Korean President Park Geun-hye. The two groups’ chiefs of command admitted that they separately met President Park before they made contributions to the mysterious foundations. Prosecutors are currently looking into whether there was any foul play on the part of the two companies and the government in relation to their efforts to win back the duty-free licenses they lost last year.

The KSC said that if the screening is delayed due to some allegations over the two conglomerates, it would not be fair for the other companies that have been spending enormous time and resources to prepare the competition. However, if it is later found that a company has earned a duty-free license through fraudulent or unfair means, the license will be revoked, the KSC said in a statement.

For evaluation of new licenses, five bidders including three new companies and two others will give presentations for 10 minutes followed by 20-minute Q&A sessions. To alleviate concerns about fairness, KCS said it will be disclosing the scores and standards of evaluation when announcing the winners.

By Choi Seung-jin and Chun Jung-hong

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]