BBQ Chairman Yoon Hong-geun 4th Trial... 2 Witnesses Absent

'Breach of Trust Charges'... Next Trial Date Set for the 9th of Next Month

Yoon Hong-geun, chairman of Genesis BBQ Group, who is accused of breach of trust, attended the fourth trial on the 12th.

Yoon Hong-geun, chairman of Genesis BBQ Group, who was indicted on charges of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (photo left), is greeting a witness after the 4th trial held on the afternoon of the 12th at the Seongnam Branch of Suwon District Court in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Moon Hye-won, Asia Economy

Yoon Hong-geun, chairman of Genesis BBQ, attended the fourth trial as a suspect regarding the violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust) held at the Suwon District Court Seongnam Branch in the afternoon, where he was summoned as a witness.

The trial mainly involved the examination of Yoon Mo, who appeared as a witness for the prosecution.

Kim Mo and Choi Mo, who were summoned as other witnesses, were absent that day. They are registered executives of DM2 Korea, which acquired GNS Highnet established by Chairman Yoon.

Chairman Yoon is accused of causing damage to the company by having Genesis, the holding company of BBQ, lend several hundred million won of company funds to his personal company J Corporation from 2013 to 2016 and failing to recover a significant amount. J Corporation was established in July 2013 with 100% investment from Yoon's family and is not an affiliate of Genesis or BBQ. Later, J Corporation was sold due to capital erosion and other reasons.

The Criminal Division 2 of the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office indicted Chairman Yoon without detention in January on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust).

The court set the next trial date for 3 p.m. on the 9th of next month.

If witnesses Kim Mo and Choi Mo are absent at the next trial, Lee Kwang-hoon, executive vice chairman of BBQ, may be summoned. Baek Seok-hyun, CEO of GNS Highnet, was also mentioned as a possible substitute witness.