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Ulsan prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant for the former leader of Hyundai Motor¡¯s trade union on charges of taking bribes from company management to cancel a strike. Lee Hun-koo (46), is alleged to have received W200 million(US$1=W935.60) from a senior executive for ending a strike early and cooperating in wage negotiations. It is the first arrest warrant requested for a leader of Hyundai¡¯s notoriously belligerent union.
The Hyundai trade union now stands to lose further moral standing. The union was previously embroiled in scandals over a leader¡¯s taking money from job applicants in exchange for pressuring company management to hire them in 2005, as well as bribery of some union leaders related to the selection of a gift product contractor last year.
Ulsan prosecutors on Tuesday said Lee met then-Hyundai Motor vice president Kim Dong-jin at the Tongdo Temple in Yangsan, South Gyeongsan Province in late July 2003. The executive asked him to cancel a strike to prevent huge losses to the company and cooperate during collective bargaining. In return, Lee allegedly received W200 million.
At the time of the alleged deal, the Hyundai union was engaged in a marathon strike that started on June 25 after a deadlock in wage negotiations. The union ended the 25-day strike on Aug. 5, soon after Lee supposedly took the money. Lee was the union¡¯s 10th chairman between October 2001 and December 2003. Current union leader Park Yoo-ki (41) was director at the time.
Lee denies the charge. But prosecutors say they have sufficient evidence including records of W30-50 million transferred to Lee's mother and mother-in-law¡¯s bank accounts. The former vice president is in the clear since the three-year statute of limitations has expired. The Hyundai trade union professed itself ¡°shocked¡± by the allegation, claiming that if true it proves the company¡¯s strategy of managing labor relations with money. The union called for punishment of executives who paid the bribes.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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