'Unfair Support to Affiliates' Park Sam-gu Appears for Warrant Hearing... "I am Sorry"'

Former Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-gu, suspected of 'unfair support to affiliates,' is attending the warrant hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu on the morning of the 12th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Cho and Daehyun Kim] Park Sam-gu, former chairman of Kumho Asiana Group, who is suspected of unfairly supporting affiliates, appeared at the court on the 12th to undergo a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing).

Former Chairman Park arrived at the Seoul Central District Court building around 10:15 a.m., where the warrant hearing was held. Accompanied by his lawyer, he only responded "I'm sorry" to reporters' questions about whether he admitted the charges and then headed into the courtroom.

The warrant hearing for former Chairman Park began at 10:30 a.m. under the presiding of Judge Lee Se-chang, who is in charge of warrants at this court. The decision on detention is expected to be made late in the afternoon or around dawn on the 13th.

Park is suspected of unfairly supporting Kumho Express, which has a high ownership stake by the group’s head, by mobilizing affiliates such as Asiana Airlines. It was investigated that nine affiliates, including Kumho Industrial, lent a total of 130.6 billion KRW to Kumho Express at low interest rates without collateral due to financial difficulties.

With the support of the affiliates, Kumho Express gained approximately 16.9 billion KRW in interest margin, and the head family, including former Chairman Park, received profits corresponding to their special relationship shareholding (at least 7.7 billion KRW) and year-end dividends (250 million KRW), according to the investigation.

The Fair Trade Commission detected these charges last year and imposed corrective orders along with a fine of 32 billion KRW on Kumho. Additionally, Kumho Industrial, Asiana Airlines, former Chairman Park, and two executives of the Strategic Management Office at the time were reported to the prosecution.