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Chung Mong-hun, the Hyundai Asan chairman who was implicated in the secret transfer of money to North Korean before the June 2000 inter-Korean summit, killed himself early Monday morning by jumping out of his company office on the 12th floor of Hyundai group's head office building in Gye-dong, downtown Seoul, police and company officials said.
Mong-hun had been under investigation over the "cash-for-summit" scandal and an allegation that he raised a W15 billion political slush fund.
A janitor found Chung's body in the garden at the entrance to the parking lot of the Hyundai building at 5:50 a.m. A parking-lot maintenance official said Chung's body lay in the garden and that the window to his office on the 12th floor was open.
Hyundai Asan officials said that the chairman entered his office at 11:52 p.m. Sunday, and police speculated that he jumped out of his office between 12:50 to 1:50 Monday morning, judging from the onset of rigor mortis in Chung's body.
According to police, Chung left what seemed to be suicide notes to President Kim Yoon-kyu of Hyundai Asan, Chung's wife and to his three daughters. In the note to Kim, he asked that his ashes be spread over the Mt. Kumgang region and that Hyundai's ongoing investment projects in North Korea to be pushed forward, as desired by his father and Hyundai founder, Chung Ju-yung.
In the notes to his wife and three daughters, Chung asked for their forgiveness for his suicide.
According to the police investigation so far, Chung had a drink with a high-school classmate, identified only as Park, who is known to be an executive of Hyundai Merchant Marine and is suspected of playing a key role in the firm's alleged illegal fund transfer to North Korea.
Police said that family members of the two alumni dined together with their families. The family members of the two went home, while Chung and Park went to a bar and drank late into the night. The police questioned Park, who said that he shared two bottles of wine with Chung before going their separate ways. Park said that while the two were drinking, Chung never mentioned the fund transfer and made no hints that he was thinking of killing himself.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said that while moving ahead with their inquiries into the W15 billion secret fund transfer, they conducted three different investigations into Chung, summoning him in later July and in early August. The prosecutors said that on August 2, two days before the suicide, they interrogated Chung for about 12 hours.
At about 8:10 on Monday morning, Chung's body was sent to Asan Medical Center in eastern Seoul, a hospital founded by the business group. Prosecutors said an autopsy has been conducted on Chung, with the consent of his family members.
Close acquaintances of Chung said the Hyundai Asan chair had been depressed and deeply concerned over the general public's divided attitudes towards the firm's investments in North Korea, despite that Chung had inherited the investment projects from his father.
Prosecutors had been investigating Chung's alleged illegal money transfer of US$500 million to North Korea, reportedly done to prepare for the summit talks between the two Koreas in June 2000.
Chung's sudden death is likely to throw a major roadblock in front of the prosecutors' investigation and to have a severe impact on the various Hyundai group-led North Korean investment projects, including the Mt. Kumgang tour and the Kaesong Industrial Complex construction projects.
Several family members of the late Chung Ju-yung gathered at the head office of the group in the morning to consult on the repercussions of Mong-hun's suicide. Those who were seen entering the building included Chung Mong-koo, Mong-hun's elder brother and the chairperson of the Hyundai Motor group, and Chung Se-yung, the former chair of Hyundai Motor and the young brother of the Hyundai founder.
As the news of Chung's death hit the share market on Monday, the share prices of the listed firms of the Hyundai group plunged across the board.
As of 10 a.m., the shares of Hyundai Merchant Marine and Hyundai Corp. whose the largest shareholder is Chung, shed more than 10 percent, while other Hyundai-related firms, including Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, and Hyundai Heavy Industries, all dropped in value.
The funeral is to be held Friday.
(Youm Kang-su, ksyoum@chosun.com ) and (Chae Sung-jin, dudmie@chosun.com )
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