Chung Eui-sun

Investigations documented employment of minors, sometimes as young as 12 or 13, at suppliers and a parts factory linked to Hyundai/Kia's Alabama supply chain. In 2024, the US Department of Labor sued Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, SMART/ITAC Alabama and a recruiter, arguing, among other things, that Hyundai and its partners were joint employers of a 13-year-old girl.

Following a series of Kona EV fires, Hyundai initially recalled around 77,000 vehicles for a battery management system update. Another fire in an already recalled vehicle renewed criticism of the measure's effectiveness. In February 2021, Hyundai decided to replace battery systems in approximately 82,000 vehicles, at a total cost potentially reaching around 1.4 trillion won, shared with LG Energy Solution.

State of the evidence

Documented

A few weeks after Chung became Chairman, the Kia union launched a partial strike and several group unions denounced the "Yangjae guidelines", their term for what they described as top-down centralisation of collective bargaining from group headquarters. They demanded greater bargaining autonomy, transparency and respect for workers.

State of the evidence

Alleged

In 2018, Chung Eui-sun supported a major plan to simplify the group's ownership structure, involving the spin-off of Hyundai Mobis activities and their merger with Hyundai Glovis. Elliott, ISS, Glass Lewis and several Korean organisations considered the terms insufficiently favourable or fair to Mobis shareholders. The group withdrew the plan before the vote.

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Prosecutors investigated Chung Eui-sun in the Hyundai case concerning the transfer of wealth and control to the next generation, particularly through purchases of underpriced Bontec shares and his substantial stake in Glovis, a company that became a major beneficiary of internal group business. Investigators had considered that certain transactions caused losses to the companies concerned.

Attribution

Directly implicated