Controversial Hwang Mu-seong Facing Resignation Pressure Was Tried for Fraud During His Tenure as CEO

Hwang Mu-seong, the first president of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] It was belatedly discovered that Hwang Museong, former president of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, was sentenced to prison for fraud during his tenure.

According to the legal community on the 27th, before being appointed as president of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, Hwang was accused of fraud in 2013, and was appointed as the first president in September of the same year, then brought to trial in June of the following year.

Hwang is accused of deceiving a construction company by claiming that high profits could be earned through securing construction projects in Uzbekistan, embezzling about 350 million won. He appeared in court a total of four times before resigning in March 2015 with 1 year and 6 months left in his term, and more than ten times after his resignation. In August 2017, the Supreme Court confirmed a sentence of six months imprisonment with two years probation.

Regarding this, it is reported that he resigned under pressure from so-called 'higher-ups,' raising growing questions about the background of his resignation.

Earlier, on the 25th, the People Power Party released a recorded conversation between former president Hwang and former Development Project Director Yuhan Gi. The content revealed that on February 6, 2015, former director Yu visited Hwang and urged him to resign from the position of corporation president before the end of his term. Subsequently, Hwang pointed to Lee Jae-myung, then mayor of Seongnam and current Democratic Party presidential candidate, as the mastermind behind his forced resignation.