KT ex-chief pleads not guilty to kickback charges

SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- The former head of KT Corp., South Korea's largest
fixed-line operator, pleaded not guilty on Monday to kickback charges that have
forced him to resign and strained the firm's new market plans.
Prosecutors accuse Nam Joong-soo of taking 300 million won (US$220,751) in
kickbacks from KT's mobile affiliate, KTF Co., and subcontractors in return for
buying their equipment and sparing senior executives' posts between 2003 and
2005.
Nam was arrested and resigned in early November. After a month-long management
vacuum, KT named a former communications minister as its new head last week.
Nam said he received money from the former KTF chief, Cho Young-joo, but denied
that he asked for it or reciprocated it with business favor.
"I am deeply ashamed of what I imprudently accepted from former president Cho,"
Nam said in a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court.
"But it was not meant to be bribery for any favor. We worked together for such a
long time and knew each other so well, and I could not reject the money that was
offered for business operations and with no strings attached," he said.
Cho also resigned in the wake of the corruption probe and is on trial over
kickback charges.
The investigation has dealt a sharp blow to both KT and KTF as they scramble to
cope with the global economic crisis and subsequent sales drops. KT delayed its
planned merger with KTF as well as an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service
that it had hoped would offset its declining fixed-line phone business. Its
overseas business, including a wireless broadband service in Uzbekistan, may also
face setbacks.
KT's new chief, Lee Suk-chae, was an information and communications minister for
former President Kim Young-sam in 1995 and served as an economics aid to Kim's
military predecessors from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)