Hyundai Investigation Arrest Imminent

It was reported yesterday that the prosecution has decided to request an arrest warrant for either Hyundai Kia Automotive Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo, or Chung Eui-sun, president of the Kia Motors and the chairman’s only son, regarding the slush fund scandal they are implicated in.

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office obtained evidence and statements that show that the two Chungs were involved in generating tens of billions of won in slush funds through group affiliates and illegal father-to-son power transfers, and is reviewing whether to request an arrest warrant.

Chae Dong-wook, a Supreme Prosecutors’ Office official responsible for investigation planning, said that he “cannot agree on” the report released by some media outlets that the prosecution “has decided to indict the two Chungs without detention.”

Asked whether the prosecutors’ office “would impose criminal punishment on the two Chungs at the same time,” he answered, “Both of them are suspects.”

However, the prosecutors’ office has reportedly decided to arrest just one of the two Chungs in consideration of the fact that arresting both of them could cause a management vacuum in the group and therefore have a negative impact on the country’s economy.

After urgently arresting and investigating Kim Dong-jin, vice president of Hyundai Motor Company and a close associate of Chairman Chung, at around 11:00 p.m. on April 19, investigators sent him back home at around 3:00 p.m. yesterday.

Meanwhile, with the price of Glovis stock plunging after the group announced that it would donate 22.5 million shares of the affiliate owned by the two Chungs (60 percent, worth about one trillion won) to society, small shareholders are close to filing a class action suit.

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