Suspended jail term confirmed for former police chief in Hanwha case

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) - The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's
ruling handing down a suspended jail sentence for a former police chief indicted
on charges of trying to help the chairman of a major South Korean conglomerate
foil an investigation into his connections with an assault in 2007.

The ruling is part of legal proceedings stemming from the attack at a karaoke bar
in Seoul involving the chairman of Hanwha Group, Kim Seung-youn.
Kim, accompanied by personal bodyguards and suspected gang members, kidnapped and
beat several workers at the bar who had earlier assaulted Kim's son. Kim was
convicted but pardoned by President Lee Myung-bak in August 2008.
Prosecutors indicted Choi Key-moon, who served as head of the National Police
Agency from 2003 to 2004, for trying to coax police officials at the agency into
covering up the assault case. Choi was serving as an adviser for Hanwha at the
time of the scandal.
The top court sentenced Choi to one year in prison with the execution of the
sentence suspended for two years.
The chairman also received a suspended jail term and community service in
September 2007, becoming the first tycoon to be sentenced for assault in a
country where the economy heavily depends on large conglomerates. Several tycoons
have been put behind bars for offering slush funds to politicians.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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