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Among other revelations, tapes from a clandestine bugging operation by the secret services during the Kim Young-sam administration also confirm that the Samsung Group lobbied hard to take over Kia Motors in 1997, a disclosure former Kia Motors chairman Kim Sun-hong has hailed as proof that "the truth wins out in the end." Kim was speaking to the Chosun Ilbo by telephone on Monday.
The following are excerpts from the interview.
Q: Samsung has been revealed to have lobbied the government and politicians to buy Kia Motors.
A: All wrongdoings in the world, I think, are bound to come out sooner or later. Truth wins out in the end. Late as it is, I hope that the whole truth of the Kia Motors affairs will be revealed to serve as a lesson to our businesses in the future.
Q: Would the fate of Kia Motors have been different if the fact had been revealed at the time?
A: However hard I tried, no one was willing to listen to me. As I said in the past, Kia Motors had some W550 billion (about US$550 million) in short-term funds abruptly recalled by secondary financial institutions over three months from April 1997. That aggravated the company's finances. We were aware that Samsung was manipulating behind the scenes to shake up and take over Kia Motors.
Q: Do you still feel victimized?
A: There are many people and businesses the press and government should understand properly and help. Unless someone helps them out, they suffer an unfair demise. But these are all bygones now. I only hope that our automobile industry will prosper.
After Kia Motors fell foul of its creditors in 1998, Kim was indicted for embezzling public funds and other charges. After serving two years of a four-year jail term, he was released in June 2000 and granted a special amnesty in December 2002. Kim has recently become a consultant to Pyung Hwa Industrial Co., which is affiliated with the Unification Church, assembling and manufacturing Fiat models in Nampo Industrial Park, North Korea.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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