VIDEO Fried chicken chief faces police questioning over sexual harassment

Hosigi Chairman Choi Ho-sig / Screen captured from YTN

By Park Si-soo

Police will question the chief executive of South Korea's major fried chicken franchise who has been accused of sexually harassing a female employee.

Gangnam Police Station said Thursday it will question Hosigi Chairman Choi Ho-sig next week. It didn’t name the date.

Choi, 64, is suspected of molesting his female secretary, in her 20s, at a hotel after they drank alcohol in Gangnam, southern Seoul, last Saturday. Choi denies the allegations.

The alleged victim initially filed a complaint with police, demanding an investigation, but withdrew it early this week. Nevertheless, police decided to investigate amid a public outcry.

Police questioned the woman on Wednesday.

Video footage obtained by cable news channel YTN shows the woman running from a hotel to a taxi, with Choi following trying to stop her. Further details are unknown.

At the time, the woman told police Choi persuaded her to go to a hotel room. But Choi claims there was “no physical contact at all” and they checked into the room because the woman had a hangover.

Choi launched the fried chicken brand in 1999. The business is now one of South Korea's biggest fried chicken franchises, with the innovative marketing policy of giving two serves of chicken for the price of one.

The company opened its 1,000th domestic store last August and its first Japanese store in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in November 2015.