Former POSCO Chairman, Kim Man Je, Charged

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) announced on December 25 that it plans to charge Kim Man Je, the former chairman of POSCO, on suspicion of embezzlement.
The BAI argued that Kim formed a 5.3 billion won secret fund during his tenure as chairman from March 1994 to March 1998 and secretly stashed 420 million won in his family's bank account.
Kim, also allegedly nullified a construction contract between POSCO and POSCO Development and instead contracted with Dalim Construction even though the price was more expensive.
It is the first time in its history that the BAI charged a high ranking executive of a state-owned company for embezzlement and misappropriation of funds.
The BAI failed to confirm the allegation that POSCO bought Sammi Steel for an extraordinarily high price because it could not investigate Lee Sok Chae, the former economic advisor to the president.
When reached for comment on his impending indictment, Kim said, 'I do not accept the results of the audit and inspection. I will prepare for the lawsuit.'