Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo was granted bail on Wednesday, two months after he was arrested on suspicion of embezzling company funds, said a spokesman for the Seoul Central District Court.
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Chung, who has been in a detention centre near Seoul since his arrest on April 29, applied for bail in late May for medical reasons.
“He will be released after he pays 1 billion won (US$1.04 million) in bail,” court spokesman Lee Sang-hoon told Reuters.
“The court concluded that concerns that the defendant would flee and destroy evidence have disappeared now that the investigations into all related people have been completed.”
The Reuters report said that on June 12, at the second hearing of his embezzlement trial, 68-year-old Chung said he was suffering from high blood pressure, joint pains and occasional dizziness.
Hyundai welcomed the court’s decision.
“We are happy as the chairman comes back to the management early and will be able to push forward projects, which have been delayed due to his absence, as soon as possible,” said Jake Jang, a company spokesman.
Earlier this month Chung apologised for his role in creating slush funds through affiliated companies, and using them to bribe government officials for business favours.
“I sincerely apologise for raising the secret funds and using them,” Chung wrote. “I’m fully responsible for the fact that funds were created and used outside of the company in the past, and I will take any legal responsibility.”
