Hyundai chair unlikely to be granted bail

Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo seen May 28 outside of the Prosecutor’s office, Seocho district, Seoul. (Kim Tae-hyeung)

Lawyers of former Hyundai Motors Group chairman Chung Mong-koo, who was indicted for amassing illegal slush funds, applied May 26 for Mr. Chung’s bail, to which prosecutors replied that "Mr. Chung’s arrest is needed in order to find out how he used the slush funds." The prosecutors said they would submit this request in writing to the court.

Indeed, given the record of the court’s actions up until now, it is likely they will side with the prosecution and deny Mr. Chung bail. In high-profile cases, the court has usually denied bail for the first few months of arrest. Former chief of the National Intelligence Service Lim Dong-won, 72, arrested last year for illegal wiretapping, although suffering from serious diabetes, was denied bail for the first two months of his arrest.

The court is under pressure from Mr. Chung’s lawyers, who have raised a doomsday ’theory of economic crisis’ through a 700-page tome regarding the present fiscal situation at Hyundai Motor Group.

Additionally, petitions have been pouring in from various sources asking the court to grant bail to Mr. Chung. Court Justice Kim Dong-o said, "A tremendous amount of petitions are flooding in every day. An entire cabinet is already filled with them."

In another move that drew attention, Kim Deog-jin, Mr. Chung’s lawyer, tendered his resignation on April 25. Mr. Kim’s position had fueled controversy because he took the case only four months after leaving the office of the chief justice of Seoul Central District Court. Mr. Chung’s lawyers include prominent ex-prosecution officials such as Jeong Gui-ho, who was a justice of the Supreme Court between 1993 and 1999.