Chairman of Hanwha Group sentenced to 18 months in prison

02-Jul-07

Kim Seung-youn, Chairman of the Hanwha Group, one of South Korea's richest people, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. This term was announced for a sensational beating attack earlier this year against bar workers who had scuffled with his son. Prosecutors had sought a two-year prison term for Kim Seung-youn for ordering his bodyguards to attack the off-duty bar workers who had taken part in the fight with his 22 year old son. As per the victims, Kim's bodyguards confronted them after the scuffle in March and forcibly took them to a construction site near the capital, where the tycoon attacked them with his feet, fists, a steel pipe and a stun gun, though none of the victims were seriously hurt. Judge Kim Chul-hwan said the Hanwha chief's responsibility for the crime was "heavy," as he mobilized his social clout and corporate organization to personally retaliate against the workers. Kim has been in jail since his May 11 arrest. The dramatic details of the case have drawn intense public interest in South Korea, where the heads of family-controlled conglomerates wield great economic, political and social clout. Hanwha was established in 1952 as the Korea Explosives Corp. It later developed interests in petrochemicals, finance, insurance, construction and retail