Hyundai chief: I'll give $1b to charity
The chief of South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor promised yesterday to honor his pledge to donate about $1 billion to charity as he appealed against a jail sentence for embezzlement.
Chung Mong-koo submitted a written pledge to the Seoul High Court through his defense lawyer along with a copy of his bank book which showed a cash deposit of 60 billion won ($64.5 million).
The tycoon offered to donate shares worth 1 trillion won ($1.07 billion) to charity in April last year when he was arrested, apparently hoping such a gesture will mitigate his punishment.
A court in February sentenced him to three years in jail for breach of trust and embezzling 90 billion won in company funds through fraudulent accounting. Chung, 68, who is free on bail, has appealed the ruling.
During an third appeal hearing yesterday, Chung said he would donate the money in seven years, including 120 billion won this year.
He said part of the money would be used to build art and cultural facilities in Seoul and elsewhere.
Hyundai said earlier that the tycoon and his son, Chung Eui-sun, would donate their 60 percent holding in Glovis, a logistics unit of Hyundai Motor.
The 35-year-old son, who heads Hyundai's affiliate Kia Motors, is being groomed to succeed his father as head of the world's sixth-largest auto group.
Prosecutors have accused the Chung family of raising millions of dollars for a slush fund through Glovis to bribe government officials, politicians and bankers in return for business favours.
The scandal also sparked allegations about a planned father-to-son transfer of control of Hyundai.
Chung senior, at the first appeal hearing in March, pleaded for a second chance and said he was not directly involved in the embezzlement of company funds.
Hanwha boss to pay out
In a seperate development, Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-yun, head of South Korea's 10th-biggest industrial group, agreed to compensate bar employees he allegedly attacked.
Kim was arrested on May 11 and the compensation agreement doesn't mean he will be released from jail, said Hanwha Group spokesman Ju Cheol-beom.
The agreement may be taken into consideration when the court seeks a sentence for Kim, Ju said.
The JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported on May 1 that Kim struck a man with a steel pipe on March 8, after a brawl involving his son. Kim had initially denied the allegations.
"I sincerely apologize to the nation for causing such great concern," Kim said .
"I am very distressed and embarrassed for not being honest the past two months. I will humbly accept the law's judgment."
AFP-Bloomberg News
(China Daily 05/23/2007 page16)
