Franchise owners are strongly resisting the government’s plan to look into allegations that they are unfairly treating their subcontractors due to burdens caused by minimum wage hikes. 

The Korea Franchise Association issued a statement Wednesday, accusing the government of trying to pass on to them the negative impacts of what they called an excessive minimum wage hike. 

They claimed they have tried hard for co-existence with their subcontractors by lowering franchise fees and supplying raw materials at cheaper prices.  

The Fair Trade Commission said on Monday that it will look into documents on 200 franchise headquarters and their 12-thousand stores to find out whether the former group is trying to relieve burdens caused by the minimum wage hike by unloading them onto their subcontractors.