SOUTH AFRICA:One of South Korea's richest businessmen was jailed for 18 months yesterday for abducting karaoke bar workers, punching them and hitting them with a steel pipe.
Prosecutors said Hanwha group chairman Kim Seung-youn and several bodyguards had stormed into an upscale Seoul karaoke bar in mid-March, seeking those Kim said were responsible for attacking his son earlier that month.
Kim seized several workers, shuttled them off to a remote mountain area and forced them to their knees where he beat them, they said. The victims were also shocked with stun guns.
"I ordered my bodyguards to take over because I got tired of beating them myself," Kim said during the trial. Away from the business world, Kim is an official of a local boxing association.
Dressed in pale blue prison fatigues, Kim showed no emotion as the verdict was pronounced yesterday. No one has been charged with the suspected assault on his son.
"The defendant took advantage of his status as chairman of a conglomerate to carry out 'organised' violence for private purposes," said judge Kim Chul-hwan.
Prosecutors had sought a two-year prison sentence for the head of what local media say is South Korea's 12th-largest business conglomerate. He has been in jail since May.
"We are frustrated and disappointed with the verdict," a company spokesman said.
Over the years South Korean business leaders have stood trial for corruption, bribery and illicit financial dealings.
The violent nature of Kim's case ensured massive media coverage.
South Korean police have also seen their reputation sullied by the case.
A Seoul court has issued an arrest warrant for one officer suspected of trying to cover up Kim's involvement in order to please the powerful business leader.
The Hanwha group has interests ranging from financial services to construction and gunpowder manufacture. - (Reuters)