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GM Korea CEO lodges suit to reverse departure ban imposed over suspected illegal hiring

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Kaher Kazem, president and CEO of GM Korea, speaks during a press conference at the company’s headquarters in Bupyeong, Nov. 12. Courtesy of GM Korea

GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem launched a lawsuit Tuesday to reverse the justice ministry's departure ban imposed on him over illegal hiring charges, legal sources said.

Early this month, the ministry issued its third overseas travel ban on the 52-year-old shortly after he was appointed executive vice president of SAIC-GM in China, GM's joint venture with Chinese maker SAIC Motor. His relocation is due June 1.

The decision was in line with the ministry's first exit ban on Kazem, imposed in 2020 while an investigation was under way over illegal hiring charges that a union raised against him and other GM officials.

The same year, Kazem was indicted and has since been standing trial on charges of hiring 1,719 workers dispatched from GM Korea's 24 outsourcing companies to work at its factories in Incheon, Changwon and Gunsan from September 2017 till December 2020. The exit ban was renewed once at that time.

The legal sources said Kazem launched his suit against the justice minister with the Seoul Administrative Court earlier in the day to reverse the latest departure ban. (Yonhap)