Hanwha Owner Sentenced to 18 Months in Jail

The Hanwha Group chairman was sentenced Monday to one and a half years in jail for assaulting a group of Seoul bar workers in revenge for an attack on his son.

Kim Seung-youn, the chairman of Hanwha Group, was convicted of ordering his bodyguards and local gangsters to kidnap and beat up the bar workers after his son was injured in a fist-fight in early March. Kim has been under detention since May 11.

"The sentence was inevitable as it is presumed that the accused took advantage of his status as a chairman of a conglomerate, turning to 'organized violence,'" judge Kim Chul-hwan of the Seoul Central District Court said. "Although he pleaded guilty, he made

inconsistent remarks in testimony to the police and court."

When prosecuted, Kim admitted part of what he had done, but only after completely denying the crime when the police first started the investigation, the court said.

"After (his son was) attacked, the accused should have followed legal procedures such as claiming compensation," the court said.

The court said the coherent testimonies by the victims demonstrated the use of a steel pipe or an electric shock device, despite Kim's denial.