South Korea is working hard to crack down on corruption in its business sector, but the example-setting won't begin with Hyundai boss Chung Mong-koo. A Korean court gave Chung a three-year suspended sentence as punishment for embezzling monstrous sums of cash from the world's sixth largest automaker. Chung admitted to embezzling company money to pay off politicians, but that didn't stop the courts from going easy on the billionaire. The judge cited the fact that Chung used most of the embezzled money to run the business, but that answer isn't sitting well with many South Koreans looking for justice. Chung is a member of the chaebol, which is a group of families that control most of the wealth in South Korea. For all his wrong-doing, Chung spent a grand total of two months behind bars, and he's been ordered to donate $828 million. It's good to be rich apparently, at least in Korea.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd, Photo by HONG JIN-HWAN/AFP/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mr.K @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:36PM
Things aren't much different across the pond apparently.
Disgruntled Goat @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:53PM
My thoughts exactly. This kind of thing is SOP here in America. I'm not even sure why this is news.
Flashpoint @ Jun 3rd 2008 10:14PM
SHOULDA BEEN JAILED FOR STEALING THE GENESIS' DESIGNS.
scappy @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:46PM
In Korea they call it bribery, in America it is campaign finance.
Jetleaf @ Jun 3rd 2008 5:28PM
In America it's called capitalism
stimr2 @ Jun 3rd 2008 10:36PM
Actually its called lobbying in the US.
Also South Koreans could care less what happens to Mr. Chung. They're too busy protesting over US beef imports.
RSR @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:51PM
So breaking the law in the name of business is OK then? Shame.
tekdemon @ Jun 4th 2008 5:27AM
Well, to be fair they're basically forcing him to pay $828 million to stay out of jail, which I'm sure still stings no matter how rich you are, lol.
Still, apparently he's rich enough to be willing to pay $828 million to avoid sitting in jail for 3 years...damn.
William @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:57PM
I agree with all the commenters above. Even though it is bad morals, these things are common throughout the world. Not "at least in Korea."
mole @ Jun 4th 2008 2:06AM
i agree.. at least its better than open "corruption" in some countries
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 3rd 2008 5:00PM
This is no surprise at all. The government tacitly approves of what the chaebol do, even the bribes. They have brought the country forward to what it is today, and the population has benefited greatly.
Right or wrong, there was no chance that he was going to be punished. The only surprise was that the government ever went through the sham of charging him in the first place.
SteveJ @ Jun 3rd 2008 5:10PM
That really looks like the guy from the LOST, the one who is head of the Korean auto manufacturer (Sun's father). Coincidence?
Daniel @ Jun 3rd 2008 6:17PM
http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Image:Mr._Paika.jpg
good call haha
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 3rd 2008 6:19PM
No he doesn't. They don't even have the same face shape. You seemingly don't have a lot of practice distinguishing oriental features.
I_Hate_China @ Jun 3rd 2008 5:29PM
Unlike Samsung, Hyundai Auto Group is one- man company. When he was arrested, the company stopped running for a month, literally, and were thrown into total chaos. Throw him in the prison and he might be forced to run the world's 6th largest auto company behind bar, as the directors can't possibly think of anyone else running the company. It's really a strange culture where the CEO is the king and directors are all his royal servants.
Because of this reason, the court had to let him go...
jsjs @ Jun 3rd 2008 10:27PM
It seems that Chung got "Ken Layed".
Personally, I think this fat-cat deserves to be in jail for a bit while longer, but what he did isn't that much different from what constitutes as lobbying here.
jsjs @ Jun 3rd 2008 10:29PM
In that case, Toyota/Lexus execs should be jailed for the design of the LS (as well as Nissan/Infiniti execs for ripping off the 5 series profile).
stimr2 @ Jun 3rd 2008 10:59PM
Personally, I don't believe he should go to jail. As a Korean I see Mr. Chung as a hero. His family escaped the communist North Korea and rebuild a war thorn South Korea into what it is today. Actually, I respect most of the Chaebols because they have made the same contributions to South Korea.
The Hyundai Group saw the automotive division of their company as a after thought. The founder of Hyundai saw it as a quick way to make money. Most people don't know that Hyundai is mainly a construction and heavy industry company. They're actually the largest shipbuilder in the world. It wasn't until Mr. Chung took over the automotive division that it started to change. Unlike his father he wanted to build cars with quality. If it wasn't for him Hyundai Motors would not be where it is today.
One other thing the various divisions of the Hyundai Group were split off from each other after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. The Chung family actually went after each other for control over certain divisions. In the end one of the brothers committed suicide for following his father's wishes. But that's another story.
Korean's Chaebols reflect the heavy Confucian influence in Korean culture. Especially when it comes to family and bloodlines. For example, when Koreans meet for the first time they usually ask about their family bloodline.
RSR @ Jun 4th 2008 3:22AM
His background of family escaping from the N. Korea and all the other stuff you listed is IRRELEVANT. What is relevant is that he broke the law. It is REPUBLIC of Korea, isn't it? It's a matter of principle after all.
stimr2 @ Jun 4th 2008 5:09PM
What he did would probably not be considered illegal in the States because it was basically lobbying. Again, lobbying in South Korea is illegal. But it doesn't cover up the fact that South Korea's government is corrupt but so is most of Asia and the rest of the world.
The office name of South Korea is the Republic of Korea but its just a name. North Korea's official name is Democratic People's Republic of Korea. How democratic is North Korea? Also the issues with North Korea plays a very important part in South Korea's economy and politics.
I fully understand that South Korea's needs to reform its economy and government. Unlike its western counterparts it hasn't had the time to evolve and mature.
Also President Lee Myung Bak was a former executive of Hyundai and he was elected by the people for his business experience. But that's backfiring now of course.