Major foods company Nongshim on Tuesday hinted at legal action against Jeju Island for canceling their contract over the sales of Samdasoo, the nation’s No. 1 bottled water produced in the southernmost island.

Jeju Special Self-governing Province Development Corp. said Monday that as its contract with Nongshim expires on March 14, it would find a new partner to continue the business.

The province-run corporation considers, among other things, distributing the water products directly at major sales channels such as supermarket chains and selecting individuals for wholesale and retail sales.

Samdasoo, a spring mineral water launched in 1998, has seen a 6.7-fold growth in sales over the past 13 years. The current market leader held 50.7 percent market shares in 2009.

During the same period, the profits of the corporation and Nongshim have increased 13 and 12 times, respectively.

Jeju claimed its seemingly permanent contract with Nongshim is “unfair” and the profits should be shared by the provincial government and people.

“We have called for renegotiations with Nongshim since April but they didn’t respond,” a Jeju official, making it clear that now they have no plan to discuss.

Nongshim, however, fought back saying their contract was not a permanent one and has been renewed only when it meets the sales goal every year.

“The operating profits of the JDC have more than doubled those of Nongshim. The difference reflects our spending on marketing activities such as commercials and sales management,” a Nongshim official said.

“We cannot accept such a unilateral decision,” the official said, hinting at legal actions against Jeju.

Nongshim owns the sales rights for the brand “Samdasoo.” Jeju, without an agreement with the food maker, is not allowed to use it.

“We are asking them to hand over the rights. If we cannot have it, we could create a different brand,” said the Jeju official.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)