Former Hyundai AutoEver CEO Seong-sik Seo Appears for Warrant Hearing on 'Kickback from Partner Companies' Allegation

Former Hyundai AutoEver CEO Seo Jeong-sik, who is accused of receiving bribes worth around 800 million KRW from partner companies, is at a crossroads regarding detention.

Seo Jeong-sik, former CEO of Hyundai AutoEver, who is accused of receiving bribes worth around 800 million won from a partner company in exchange for favors, is heading to the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul, on the morning of the 25th to undergo a pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant examination). [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 25th at 10:30 a.m., Judge Shin Young-hee, who is in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, is conducting a detention hearing (pre-arrest suspect interrogation) for former CEO Seo, who is charged with breach of trust and bribery.

Seo, who appeared at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul, for the detention hearing, did not respond to reporters' questions such as "Do you admit to receiving bribes in exchange for delivery convenience and other illicit solicitations?" and "Was the 80 million KRW received from Spark a payment for overpriced purchases?" and headed straight to the courtroom without any comment.

According to the prosecution, from November 2018 to June last year, Seo, while serving as a senior executive at Hyundai Motor Company and CEO of Hyundai AutoEver, is accused of receiving economic benefits worth a total of about 800 million KRW, including corporate cards, from three individuals including representatives of partner companies in exchange for maintaining business relationships and illicit solicitations such as delivery convenience.

The prosecution reportedly uncovered Seo's misconduct during an investigation into suspicions that KT Cloud purchased the vehicle cloud company Spark & Associates (Spark, now Open Cloud Lab) at a price higher than the normal market value.

At that time, KT Cloud acquired 100% of Spark's shares for 20.68 billion KRW, incorporated it as a subsidiary, and then changed the company name to Open Cloud Lab.

This raised suspicions that KT's purchase of Spark was a return investment for Hyundai Motor Company’s acquisition of shares in ‘Airplug,’ a company established by the twin brother of former KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo, in two rounds in 2019 and 2021.

Earlier, in August last year, the prosecution conducted raids on the residence of former KT President Yoon Kyung-rim, KT headquarters, KT Cloud, Open Cloud Lab, and residences of related parties, and in November last year, seized related materials from four locations including the residences of former CEO Seo and Spark officials.

Seo’s detention decision is expected to be made as early as this afternoon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.