S Korea tycoon jailing suspended

Kim Seung-youn appeared in court in his hospital gown

A South Korean business tycoon has been given a suspended jail sentence over his conviction for a revenge beating.

The appeal court in Seoul suspended the 18 month sentence handed down to Kim Seung-youn, chairman of the Hanwha Group, by a lower court in July.

Mr Kim was temporarily released from prison last month to receive treatment for worsening health problems.

The 55-year-old has apologised for his role in attacks on karaoke bar workers who allegedly scuffled with his son.

The case generated huge public interest in South Korea, where heads of huge conglomerates have traditionally been treated leniently by courts.

Apology

Mr Kim, who appeared at Seoul Central District Court wearing a hospital gown, had his sentence suspended for three years.

"The sentence of one year and six months is a bit too heavy," judge Kim Deuk-hwan ruled, citing Mr Kim's health condition and his previously clean criminal record.

One of South Korea's richest men and chairman of the Hanwha Group, Kim Seung-youn was found guilty of abducting and assaulting the bar workers.

The trial heard that he mobilised his bodyguards and local gangsters to take the off-duty workers to a mountainside construction site, where the beating occurred.

Prosecutors said the attack was in revenge for his son, Kim Dong-won, 22, a Yale University student, who reportedly needed stitches for an eye injury after a brawl at the Seoul club.

Before being taken into custody, Kim Seung-youn had apologised, saying he had lost his temper and hoped that foolish fathers like himself would think twice before following his actions.

Past leniency

Mr Kim is the second South Korean businessman in a week to have his prison sentence suspended.

Hyundai chairman Chung Mong-koo's three-year jail term for embezzlement was suspended for five years last Thursday.

The judge in the case said he had taken into account the "huge economic impact that could result from imprisonment".

Both rulings will cause concern among those who have been calling for heavier sentences for South Korea's business elite.

Senior Korean business leaders have in the past enjoyed favourable treatment by the courts in consideration of their contributions to building the country's economy.