Chairman Kim Nears Date in Court

The next step after the arrest of Hanwha Group chairman Kim Seung-yeon (55) will be decided on May 11, 63 days after his alleged ‘revenge attack’ took place.

The Seoul Central District Court said that it would carry out a review of legality for confinement for Chairman Kim and Hanwha’s bodyguard chief, Mr. Jin (40), at 10:30 a.m. on May 11. The court issued a summons for Chairman Kim in case he refuses to show up.

The review will be carried out by Judge Lee Gwang-mahn of the Seoul Central District Court. Unless Kim postpones his court appearance, a decision on the issuance of the arrest warrant will be decided on the afternoon of May 11.

In the morning of May 10, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office requested arrest warrants for Kim and Jin.

Kim faces six charges: assault, injury, confinement, abduction, obstruction of justice, and mobilization of street gangsters.

Police investigating the charges of mobilizing gangsters secured circumstantial evidence of several criminal organizations being mobilized and are looking for those involved.

On May 10, police summoned three known organized crime members in for questioning. They were identified while police was grilling a chauffeur of a Mr. Jang, who was a former boxer and has some shares of G Karaoke in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

Police thinks that the Hanwha chairman, who once served as the head of the Korean Amateur Boxing Federation, might have close personal ties with Jang, which led Chairman Kim’s second son to frequent G karaoke.

Police questioned a member of another organized criminal group as a reference. During the questioning, the reference person hinted Chairman Kim might have been to Mt. Cheonggye, the site of the assault, by saying “I was told to follow the car Chairman Kim was supposedly in, but I managed to miss the car near Yangjae-dong, which is on the way to Mt. Cheonggye.”

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