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The Hyundai Automotive Group on Wednesday apologized to the public for massive irregularities uncovered in a widening criminal probe. At a press conference at group headquarters in Yangjaedong, Seoul it pledged to donate a 60 percent stake in its logistics arm Glovis held by Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-koo and his son, Kia Motors chief Chung Eui-sun, to society. The group said the move aimed to dispel suspicions that Chung is illegally attempting to pass the group chairmanship to his son.
"We will actively cooperate with the prosecution in its ongoing investigation into the group and accept its results in a humble manner,¡± Hyundai Motor vice president Lee Jeon-gap said. The Glovis shares owned by the Chungs were valued at W940 billion (US$940 million) at Monday¡¯s closing prices but fell to W798.7 billion as the stock price plummeted after the announcement on Wednesday.
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Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-koo is mobbed by reporters as he arrives from Beijing at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday./Yonhap
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Chung Mong-koo arrived at Incheon International Airport at 3 p.m. Wednesday from a trip to China. Bombarded with questions from reporters, he only repeated, ¡°I'm sorry.¡±
Chung and the group stand accused of a catalogue of irregularities, from setting up massive slush funds to grease the wheels in a plethora of deals, via bribing officials to write off debts for part-compensation in public money, to finagling Chung junior¡¯s succession to the Hyundai throne. But all Chung would say when confronted about them by reporters was, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± - altogether some 30 times from the moment he got off Asiana Airlines flight OZ332 from Beijing to the moment he got into his car.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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