Chapter 412 |
The illegal activities during the Seosung Group's succession process had been an issue for a long time.
Chairman Im Jinyong's strategy regarding this was simple: Everything was the doing of his close aides, and he himself knew nothing.
In reality, a little thought reveals how ridiculous this story is.
The party in question supposedly knew nothing and stood by idly while his associates used every illegal and irregular method available—from issuing convertible bonds at a low price to accounting fraud and affiliate mergers—to hand him the management rights.
When an investigation began after the change in government, his aides willingly took the fall. Key figures like Seosung Bio's CEO Cha Gijin and CEO Myeong Sejoon were already under arrest and on trial.
When bribes given to political circles in exchange for turning a blind eye to the succession process became an issue, the blame was shifted to the late Chairman Im Il-kwon's orders.
Chairman Im Jinyong reaped all the benefits from the illegalities, yet he managed to escape all charges unscathed.
But this time was different.
Audio recordings and documents of his direct orders were leaked, and his testimony of knowing nothing was proven false.
In truth, no one in South Korea believed Chairman Im Jinyong was innocent. Even his supporters didn't deny the illegal acts he had committed.
Online, public opinion was fiercely divided.
- Wow! I never thought of you that way, Jin-Dragon bro. So damn disappointing.
- But still, Im Jinyong is different from other chairmen. He often ate with employees in the company cafeteria, got into a real-life fight with an employee over an online game, and even appeared on A-Tube wearing a Batman mask.
- LOL No matter how much he cosplays as a commoner, a chaebol is a chaebol.
- Listening to the recording, he was blatantly ordering the accounting fraud.
- Holy shit, is it true they buried the ledgers and poured concrete over them to prepare for the prosecution's investigation?
- The class of Im Jinyong, who only cares about securing his management rights, no matter the losses to the National Pension Service~
- Considering how much Im Jinyong has contributed to the Korean economy, does it even make sense to arrest him for something like this?
- This is a chaebol witch hunt! If they lock up all the chaebols like this, who's going to invest in Korea?
- Might as well arrest Kang Jinhoo too!
- Wait, what does this have to do with a chaebol witch hunt? He committed a crime, so he's being punished. Am I the only one not getting this?
- Yup. You're the only one who doesn't get it. Think about what Seosung Group has done for Korea all this time.
- Did Im Jinyong do that all by himself? Did the tens of thousands of employees at Seosung and the citizens who loyally bought from their own country's company do nothing?
- So wasn't it Im Jinyong who hired those employees? Without Seosung, those people would all be unemployed now. You have to acknowledge his contribution to the economy.
- That's fucking ridiculous. So does that mean other citizens get thrown in jail for stealing a single packet of ramen because they didn't contribute to the economy?
- Haha, at this rate, people will be saying we should let Im Jinyong go even if he goes on a shooting spree.
- No matter how good a person you've been, if you commit a crime, it's only natural to be punished. Is that so strange?
- Sigh~ I knew it was "innocent if rich, guilty if poor," but I didn't think the public would think that way too.
The media reported on the incident day after day.
No matter how much influence Seosung Group had over the media, the case was so significant that no outlet could afford not to cover it.
Public opinion was split on the issue of Chairman Im Jinyong's arrest and punishment. Some shouted that he must be punished for his crimes, while others raised their voices, saying the negative impact on the economy should be considered first.
Seosung Electronics was the world's largest IT manufacturing company.
As it had relationships with almost every company, everyone was closely watching to see what impact this situation would have in the future.
Taekgyu asked, “What's going to happen? Is he really going to be arrested?”
“I don't know.”
By law, he should have been arrested long ago. However, Korea is remarkably lenient when it comes to the crimes of chaebol chairmen.
The Republic of Korea is a nation governed by the rule of law, where all citizens are equal before the law, and no special classes are recognized.
Those who commit the same crime should receive the same punishment. Even if it doesn't work that way in reality, that should be the principle.
But even this obvious logic often fails in the face of money. Chaebol leaders have historically received reduced sentences, suspended sentences, and special pardons on the grounds of their contributions to the Korean economy.
Taekgyu tilted his head.
“Then what about non-regular workers or day laborers? Despite their difficult circumstances, they’ve worked hard from the bottom of society, taking on all sorts of unpleasant jobs for the development of the Korean economy. Shouldn't their crimes be treated with leniency too?”
I let out a sigh.
“Because people aren't equal.”
The higher one's status and the more money one has, the greater one's influence on society. It goes without saying who has a bigger impact on society between a non-regular worker and a CEO.
Chairman Im Jinyong had certainly contributed a great deal to the Korean economy thus far. And he would likely contribute much more in the future.
But that doesn't mean he has a license to commit crimes.
Just as I was thinking this, I received a call from Chairman Im Jinyong.
[Do you have a moment?]
I nodded.
“I'll head over there.”
***
I arrived at the Seosung Group building in Gangnam.
The moment I stepped inside, I could feel the change in the atmosphere. Everyone was aware of the gravity of the situation.
An employee who had been waiting for us guided us up to the chairman's office.
Chairman Im Jinyong looked utterly exhausted. He probably hadn't slept properly since the incident broke, trying to manage the response.
I asked him directly, "What do you think will happen?"
He replied calmly, "It seems an arrest will be hard to avoid."
He looked as though he had already resigned himself to it.
How many times in a person's life will they face arrest?
It's said to cost about 50,000 won a day to manage one inmate. That's 1.5 million won a month, 18 million won a year.
In other words, an arrest means the state is willing to spend that much money to isolate someone from society.
In South Korea, it's not that rare for a chaebol group chairman to be arrested. More than half of the chairmen of the top 10 conglomerates have done time in prison.
Is this because the Korean judiciary applies an overly harsh standard to chaebol chairmen, or is it because chaebol chairmen commit such grave crimes?
In any case, while various chairmen had been in and out of prison, no one from the Seosung family had ever been arrested.
The late Chairman Im Il-kwon was caught with borrowed-name accounts worth hundreds of billions of won, but he was tried without being detained and ended up with a suspended sentence, which was the most severe punishment he faced. Even then, he was pardoned just three months later.
If he were to be arrested this time, it would be a first for the Seosung family.
"How long do you think you'll be in for?"
"They say it could be up to 20 years if all the charges stick. I'll do what I can, but if it doesn't work, I'll have to hope for a special pardon."
He was different from other chaebols in many ways. Sometimes, he truly felt like a good senior colleague. But on reflection, Im Jinyong was the top chaebol in Korea, leading Seosung Group.
Behind his playful and easygoing demeanor lay the cold-headedness and greed of a chaebol.
That's not to say I thought his behavior had been a pretense all this time. Both sides were probably his true self.
"I've called in the affiliate CEOs and given them instructions on ongoing matters. There shouldn't be any problems with the investment progress."
If it was about continuing existing work, a chairman wasn't strictly necessary. But for making important business decisions, like large-scale investments, the chairman's presence was essential.
This Saemangeum investment, too, would have been difficult to achieve without Chairman Im Jinyong's decisive action.
Seosung Group was OTK Company's most important partner. But no relationship, whatever it may be, is eternal. If Chairman Im Jinyong were arrested, other groups might try to take his place.
Of course, he would have taken measures to prevent that from happening.
In any case, with so many related businesses, his arrest would be a blow to us as well.
"Did you really have to go that far to secure the succession of management rights?"
He had evaded taxes that should have been paid during the succession process, caused damage to shareholders' assets, and inflicted losses on the National Pension Service.
After he became chairman, Seosung Group's sales rose significantly, and its stock price soared. More taxes were collected, and the wealth of shareholders and the retirement funds of the public grew.
But a good outcome doesn't erase the illegality of the process.
"If I hadn't gone that far, I wouldn't have been able to inherit the group intact."
In the case of American companies, the founder's stake is usually 15 percent, or at least 10 percent. But the stakes of Korean chaebols are at most 3 to 5 percent.
There are two reasons for such low stakes.
First, they have expanded their businesses in an octopus-like fashion, and second, they have been able to control the group with small stakes through holding companies or circular shareholding structures.
But this abnormal governance structure reveals its vulnerability during the succession process.
First, inheritance tax is incurred when shares are passed down. Then, if other children who feel left out of the inheritance process each claim their legal portion, the stake gets fragmented.
In fact, many groups are dismantled or split up during this process. Eunsung Group was one such case.
That's why they commit all sorts of illegal and irregular acts unimaginable to the average person in order to inherit the group intact.
But the premise of his statement was flawed from the start.
Seosung Group is not the private property of the Im family; it is a public limited company. The owners of Seosung Group are the shareholders who own its stock.
Therefore, if one wants to inherit management rights, one must obtain the approval of the shareholders through legitimate means.
"From a young age, I vaguely realized it. That one day, I would have to take over my father's work. I couldn't even think of any other path."
"Like a king's son inheriting the throne?"
Chairman Im Jinyong gave a self-deprecating smile.
"You're still young, so it might not be easy for you to understand."
"I really don't understand."
Was there truly no other way?
Seosung Group had already been passed down for three generations. So what would happen after he died? I recalled Chairman Im Jinyong's son, whom I had seen once before.
"Are you going to pass the chairmanship down to your son later on?"
He didn't answer.
***
The prosecution applied to the court for an arrest warrant, while Seosung's lawyers argued that he should be investigated without detention, as there was no risk of destroying evidence or fleeing.
They say it's "guilty if poor, innocent if rich," but what's important is the letter of the law.
A prosecutor cannot indict outside the bounds of the law, and a judge cannot rule outside the bounds of the law. In the past, he might have been investigated without detention, but the timing was unfortunate.
Chaebol reform was a key task of the current administration. The newly appointed Prosecutor General, Moon Dae-seok, defined the long-standing practice of lenient investigations into chaebols as an accumulated evil and declared that he would investigate solely based on law and principle.
The first target was Chairman Choi Joowon of Daesung Group. He had secretly embezzled company funds for personal investments, which failed, causing the company 30 billion won in damages.
In the past, this wouldn't have been a big deal. It was the kind of case that would have ended with a non-detention trial and a suspended sentence.
But the court ordered Chairman Choi Joowon's arrest in the courtroom, and he is currently undergoing his second trial while in custody.
In Chairman Im Jinyong's case, however, the amount exposed was already in the trillions of won. Unlike the previous case, the evidence was solid. If he were not investigated under arrest in this situation, it would be tantamount to the prosecution admitting that they apply the law differently depending on the person.
When Chairman Im Jinyong appeared for his arrest warrant hearing, reporters swarmed him, thrusting cameras and microphones in his face.
"Did you directly order the accounting fraud at Seosung Bio?"
"Were you directly involved in the succession process?"
"Do you admit to the criminal facts?"
Chairman Im Jinyong, with a grim expression, answered briefly, "I will cooperate faithfully with the investigation."
With the entire nation's eyes on the proceedings, the warrant hearing lasted over six hours. And finally, the result was announced.