Hanwha Chairman Faces Assault Charge, Jail Time

Criminal Department 8 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, headed by Seo Beom-jeong, arrested and prosecuted Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn and his chief bodyguard Jin on June 5, under charges of ordering mob violence and assault with a weapon.

In addition, the Prosecutors’ Office also charged without detention three people, including Kim, the owner of a construction firm, for assembling hoodlums to carry out the revenge assault. It also issued summary indictments against Kim, one of the chairman’s bodyguards engaged in the brawl, and seven employees of a club identified as “S” in Bukchang-dong, Seoul, for attacking the second son of the chairman. Each of them was fined amounts between two to five million won. Indictments against six others, including Kim’s second son and other bodyguards, were suspended as their involvement in the fight turned out to be minimal.

The Prosecution is continuing their investigation into six others, including Chairman Kim’s chief secretary Kim, a Hanwha subsidiary’s auditor Kim, leader of the gang “Mambo,” Oh, and three of the gang’s members.

During questioning, it was revealed that Hanwha Group paid 100 million won to a former goon squad head in return for their joining in the retaliatory attack, and that Kim Seung-youn used weapons such as steel pipes, confirming the inspection results of the police.

It turns out that chief secretary Kim handed Oh a total of 110 million won in cash. Auditor Kim was the conduit for the payments that were made three or four times between March 8, when the initial brawl took place, and early in April.

“We found from our interrogation into the Hanwha authorities that the money was from Chairman Kim’s own purse. Still under investigation is whether the chairman knew about the money sent to Oh, what the reason for the payment was, and if there was any more money remitted,” said First Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor of the SCDPO Park Cheol-jun.

Concerning the issue of whether the president used weapons, the Prosecutors’ Office concluded that he used steel pipes and electric shock devices based on the testimonies of the victims and the recordings of the emergency calls made to the police.

However, the office has explained that it seems that chief secretary Kim first gathered the S Club workers to demand an apology from the person who beat the chairman’s second son, and the chairman, briefed about the brawl later on, abruptly made his decision to go to the scene.

Meanwhile, the Seoul Central District Court has allotted this case to Judge Kim Cheol-hwan of Criminal Department 8, and tagged it a high priority case to speed up the process.

A heated controversy regarding whether Chairman Kim used a weapon is expected at the trial. Violence using weapons is punishable with a sentence of three years or longer and is the heaviest charge of the six Kim is facing. Kim and his bodyguards are claiming that Kim was going to grab a steel pipe, but the bodyguards talked him out of it, and therefore, he didn’t use it.

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