Chairman of Hyundai Asan Group Commits Suicide

Chung Mong-hun, chairman of Hyundai Asan Co. who had been indicted for an alleged secretive payment to North Korea, jumped to his death on August 4 from the company`s headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

While on trial over the scandal pertaining to Hyundai Asan`s secretive payment to the North, Chung had been investigated three times recently at the Crime Investigation Center for appropriating 15 billion won for the company, and was scheduled to be summoned for his fourth investigation soon.

An official from the Hyundai group said that, “Mr. Chung was feeling bad as his colleagues became subject to legal punishment when the company`s North Korea business projects, in which he put forth much energy, brought about a series of secretive payment scandals.”

The official also added that the chairman had been feeling guilty for issues including △ the liquidity crisis of Hyundai Asan, △ Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. becoming insolvent, and △ losing managerial rights over Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. and Hynix.

▽ What happened= At around 5:50 am, on August 4, Two men only identified by their surnames of Yoon (janitor, 63) and Kyoung (parking lot employee, 51) found Chung lying dead on the flowerbed at the east end of the company headquarters. They called police immediately. The two men found Chung with one of his legs caught in the branches of a pine tree, and pine needles and small branches scattered all over his body.

▽ Cause of death = A police investigation into the apparent suicide revealed that the chairman arrived at the company`s headquarters alone at around 11:50 pm the previous night, went straight to his office, and then was found dead the following morning.

Considering that the 12th floor office window was open and that his watch, glasses and holograph wills were found on the office table, the police are continuing their investigation assuming that Chung jumped voluntarily from his office window and committed suicide.

Authorities said, “although a precise autopsy has not yet been conducted, the rigidity of the corpse seems to tell us that he had died 2 to 3 hours ago.”

Chung left three wills in white envelopes which read “I`m sorry” to Kim Woon-Gyu, president of Hyundai Asan, his wife and 3 children. It was said, however, that he did not state why he had chosen to die.

▽ Investigation= The police announced that “although the case cannot yet be concluded as a suicide, there are no signs of murder either,” and that “since there may have been psychological pressure from somebody else that could have led him to die, we are tracing his schedule from the previous day, questioning Mr. Chung`s friends and chauffeur.”

Authorities are currently investigating whether a businessman from Los Angeles known only as Park, a high school friend who came from the U.S. to see the late-chairman, can shed light on whether Chung mentioned anything about dying when they were together between 2:40 p.m. and 11 p.m. the previous evening.

Furthermore, with the consent of the surviving family, the prosecution performed an autopsy in the afternoon in order to search for the exact cause of death, later announcing that, “An autopsy was necessary because although is seems as if Mr. Chung died from the fall, there is no real evidence for the direct cause of death, under what circumstances he wrote the wills, the exact time of death, etc.” The prosecution is planning to seek an expert`s opinion to verify Chung`s handwriting on the envelopes.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Asan made an official announcement in the morning that, “The chairman was feeling deeply regretful for causing the public any anxiety due to the recent scandals involving Hyundai Asan`s payment to the North,” and that they would, “continue to sincerely pursue the great intentions of the Project for Economic Cooperation of North and South Korea.”

Jin-Goo Lee Sun-Woo Kim sys1201@donga.com sublime@donga.com