Hanwha Group's 15.89% stake in Korea Aerospace Industries has triggered a Fair Trade Commission business combination review and drawn a sharp response from KAI's labor union, which is demanding that the regulator reject any attempt by Hanwha to participate in management. Hanwha has built the stake through purchases since November last year and changed the stated purpose of the holding to "management participation," leaving it as KAI's second-largest shareholder behind the Export-Import Bank of Korea, which owns 26.41%. The union argues the case combines vertical and horizontal competition risks because Hanwha affiliates are major suppliers to KAI in programs including the T-50, KF-21 and Light Armed Helicopter while Hanwha Systems also competes with KAI in military satellite development. It said management participation could tilt procurement toward Hanwha products and expose commercially sensitive information such as bid prices, costs, technology strategy and partner structures. The union cited the Fair Trade Commission's 2023 corrective measures in Hanwha's acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, later extended by three years, and pointed to Hanwha Systems' February earnings call describing the K-model and H-model synthetic aperture radar verification satellites as competing programs. It said it will wage an all-out fight if the transaction is approved even conditionally, while Hanwha has said it is reviewing ways to join KAI's decision-making to deepen synergies and support exports.