"Hanwha Group Head Involved in Assault"

Namdaemun Police Station, which has been investigating Hanwha Group chairman Kim Seung-yeon’s alleged involvement in revenge attacks, concluded that Kim and his son were directly involved in the physical assault of six employees of a club in Bukchang-dong.

The 55 year-old tycoon is suspected of taking four of them to a construction site located at the foot of Mount Cheonggye in Gyeonggi Province and striking them dozens of times in their faces, backs and chests using steel pipes and fists, Nam Hee-gon, the chief of Namdaemun Police Station, said on Monday during the announcement of an interim investigation report.

Kim beat Mr. Cho, a sales director of the club, about fifty times and his 22-year-old son hit Mr. Yoon, a man who allegedly assaulted him at a karaoke bar in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, in the face and the shin about a dozen times, according to the police.

Although the victims had initially claimed that the bodyguards, who accompanied Kim and his son, did not use violence against them, they changed their testimonies after another round of questioning on Monday, saying that the bodyguards also assaulted them under the instruction of Kim. The police also secured testimony from one of the victims who claim one of the bodyguards used an electric shock device on two bar attendants of the club at the construction site. The police will request an arrest warrant for Kim as early as Wednesday given the seriousness of Kim’s alleged assault.

“Since the statements of the victims are very concrete and consistent, it will not be difficult to seek an arrest warrant once we finish our investigation. We are considering conducting a warrant search of his house and company office, if it is necessary,” the police said.

The police said Kim`s son, who agreed to voluntarily turn himself in upon his arrival from China on Monday afternoon, failed to appear, and agreed to arrive at the police station by 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday after a discussion with police.

imsun@donga.com