Saturday, June 19, 2004
Hyundai CEO gets 2-year jail term
REUTERS
SEOUL: The chief executive of South Korea's Hyundai Motor was sentenced to a suspended two-year jail term for political funding violations and negligence, the Seoul District Court said on Friday.
Kim Dong-Jin, also vice-chairman of Hyundai Motor, which is South Korea's third-largest conglomerate, was found guilty of playing a key role in raising a slush fund to support politicians in the 2002 presidential race.
Hyundai Motor is one of a string of the country's family-run conglomerates, known as "chaebol," that has been investigated over illegal campaign funding. A top executive at Samsung Electronics was also indicted.
Korean Air CEO Cho Yang-ho was sentenced to a one-year suspended jail term on Friday over funding violations, the court said.
President Roh Moo-Hyun's administration is mounting a drive to reform management practices at chaebol and to break a culture of corrupt ties between big business and politicians. That process has been closely watched by foreign investors, who partly blame these practices for the relatively low value of South Korean stocks.
Kim was the latest high-profile corporate executive on trial after SK Group executives admitted giving funds to politicians ahead of the 2002 presidential election.
A spokesman for Hyundai Motor declined to comment on the ruling.
More than a dozen members of parliament have been detained and indicted over allegations they accepted funds from major corporations.
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