Milestones in checkered career
1970: Chung joins Hyundai Motor as a director at the Seoul office.
1978: Chung and his late father and Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung are cleared after an investigation into corrupt property deals. Chung Mong-koo is arrested and jailed for 75 days over construction regulations infringements, but freed on a 5 million won ($5,334) fine.
1999: Chung Mong-koo becomes chairman of Hyundai Motor Group.
August 4, 2003: Chung Mong-hun, Chung Mong-koo's younger brother and then chairman of Hyundai Asan, jumps to his death while facing trial over an alleged $500 million secret "cash for summit" payment to Pyongyang before the landmark June 2000 DPRK/ROK summit. He was also accused of doctoring company books and embezzling 15 billion won.
June 18, 2004: Hyundai Motor Group Vice-Chairman Kim Dong-jin and Korean Air Chief Executive Cho Yang-ho are given suspended two-year and one-year jail terms respectively, for raising a slush fund to support politicians in the 2002 presidential race. Both get to keep their jobs.
March 26, 2006: South Korea prosecutors raid Hyundai group units such as Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors Corp over a probe into suspected illegal political lobbying.
April 19, 2006: Hyundai Motor says the Chung family will donate $1 billion in shares of the group's auto shipping affiliate Glovis Co Ltd to atone for the bribery scandal.
April 28, 2006: Chung is arrested on charges of misusing company funds.
May 16, 2006: South Korea indicts Chung, who is officially charged with breach of trust and embezzling 103.4 billion won in company funds, some for personal use, and for incurring losses at group companies by forcing them to support weaker affiliates.
June 28, 2006: Chung is released on $1 million bail.
January 16, 2007: Prosecutors demand a six-year jail term for Chung.
February 5, 2007: Chung is found guilty of breach of trust and embezzling company funds and sentenced to three years in jail.
February 12, 2007: Prosecutors and Chung appeal the three-year jail sentence.
June 19, 2007: Prosecutors seek to double the jail sentence for Chung to 6 years.
September 6, 2007: South Korea's appeals court upholds the lower court conviction and hands Chung a 3-year jail term suspended for 5 years.
Agencies
(China Daily 09/07/2007 page16)
