Seoul, Aug 04: Chung Mong-Hun, a top executive of South Korea's Hyundai conglomerate who was embroiled in a scandal over a historic 2000 summit between the two Koreas, committed suicide today, police and company officials said. Chung jumped from his 12th-story office in the Hyundai headquarters building in central Seoul, said a police officer who only gave his last name park.
Lee Mi-Kyong, a Hyundai spokeswoman, confirmed the death.
Chung's body was first found on the ground by his secretary and reported to police at around 5:50 am local time (0220 IST), said Park, a police officer at Seoul's Chongno police station near the Hyundai headquarters.
Park said preliminary investigations showed that Chung appeared to have jumped four or five hours before his body was found.
Chung was on trial on charges stemming from allegations that his company helped former president Kim Dae-Jung's government secretly pay North Korea USD 100 million to get Pyongyang to agree to the historic summit between the Koreas.
In June, Chung was indicted on charges of doctoring company books to hide the money transfers. If convicted, he could have faced up to three years in prison.
So far eight former government officials and Hyundai officials have been indicted in the case. If convicted, some could face up to five years in prison.
Chung was a son of Chung Ju-Young, the late founder of the giant Hyundai conglomerate, and had been leading Hyundai-Asan, a Hyundai subsidiary that runs a series of joint ventures with communist North Korea. Bureau Report