Prosecutors are seeking the pretrial detention of food and beverage company SPC Group’s CEO Hwang Jae-bok amid allegations that SPC workers were coerced into withdrawing their union memberships.

According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Tuesday, a pretrial detention warrant is being sought for Hwang on charges of violating the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act as well as bribery.

Hwang, while heading group subsidiary PB Partners, is accused of compelling unionized workers at the group's bakery chain Paris Baguette to withdraw from the umbrella Korea Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU) between July 2019 and July 2022.

He is suspected of discriminating against unionized workers when awarding promotions and forcing the union chief to conduct interviews and issue statements in favor of the company.

He also allegedly paid bribes worth six-point-two million won, or around four-thousand-700 U.S. dollars, to an investigator at the prosecution service to obtain information on a fair trade law violation probe against SPC Chairman Hur Young-in between September 2020 and May 2023.