AmorePacific Corp. said it would disclose its official position on allegations that one of its employees tried to blackmail a dealership of the nation’s largest cosmetics maker.

According to an audio clip file released by a broadcaster on Sunday, the employee of AmorePacific verbally abused a middle-aged owner of the regional dealership.

In the clip, the employee appears to be pressuring the middle-aged man to relinquish his retailer ownership, scolding him with curse words for the dealership’s reportedly lackluster sales performance.

The Fair Trade Commission is poised to launch an inquiry into the allegations.

Under the Park Geun-hye administration, the antitrust regulator has stepped up crackdowns on unfair deals between conglomerates and their subcontractors.

(kys@heraldcorp.com)