Ex-Ssangyong Chair to Serve Jail Term

The Seoul Western District Prosecutors` Office yesterday sentenced Kim Suk-won, former chairman of Ssangyong Cement Industrial Co., to four years in prison for breach of trust and embezzlement.

The court said that Kim was found to have offered financial assistance to four ghost subsidies without the approval of the board of directors while serving as chairman of Ssangyong Cement Industrial, and embezzled 127.1 billion won by cooking the book. For this embezzlement, he was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail.

He was also sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for having embezzled 730 million won from Ssangyong Group affiliates.

Myeong Ho-geun and Hong Sa-seung, former executives of Ssangyong Cement, who collaborated with the ex-chairman, were found guilty of breach of trust and sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, respectively.

In its ruling, the court said, “Given the large scale of damage done by their illegal activities and the harmful impact on businesses’ efforts to secure transparency and soundness, we believe that those responsible for wrongdoing should be punished by justice.”

It also added, “We also positively considered the fact that they embezzled the money, not for their personal interest, but to save the firm and that Kim has paid back all the money.

At the final hearing held June 2, the prosecutors sentenced a five-year prison term to Kim, saying, “He committed a grave crime in that he provided some 100 billion won in financial assistance in an illegal way, resulting in a great loss to the firm and its shareholders.” Against this court decision, Kim’s side unveiled their will to file an intermediate appeal.