Hanjin chief quizzed over influence peddling
Cho Yang-ho
By Jhoo Dong-chan
Prosecutors summoned Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho for questioning, Tuesday, over whether he was involved in alleged influence peddling by a lawmaker.
Officials at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office questioned Cho as a witness over whether he helped the brother-in-law of Rep. Moon Hee-sang, former head of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), in landing a job.
“Cho was questioned in the presence of his attorney about the case,” a prosecutor said.
Moon may be summoned as well, he added.
In 2004, Moon allegedly asked Cho to get his brother-in-law, surnamed Kim, a job as a consultant at Bridge Warehouse, a U.S.-based company that had a business relationship with Hanjin Shipping, an affiliate of the Hanjin Group.
Cho and Moon are high school friends.
It is alleged that although Kim never worked for the company, he received a total of $747,000 in salary until 2012.
“We asked whether Cho really accepted Moon’s request and whether Kim really took the salary without working,” the prosecutor said.
The prosecution launched an investigation in June after receiving a complaint filed by civic groups that claimed Moon took advantage of his power to provide Kim with a job using Cho.
Officials of the Hanjin Group immediately denied the allegations and its connection to Bridge Warehouse. But suspicion grew that the U.S. company was owned by Hanjin, as the company’s business address was the same as one of Hanjin Shipping’s U.S. branches.
Investigators earlier raided offices of Korean Air, Hanjin Shipping and the group’s legal team in June. They also questioned Cho’s closest aides, Hanjin Shipping CEO Seok Tae-soo and Seo Yong-won, CEO of the Hanjin Group, in July.
On Aug. 22, prosecutors also summoned and questioned Moon’s wife for more than 10 hours.
In 1999, Cho was indicted and arrested for creating a slush fund and evading taxes. He was sentenced to three years in prison suspended for five years in a high court appeal in 2000.