Hanjin KAL challengers make claims of bribery

The battle for Hanjin KAL, which owns 30 percent of Korean Air Lines, continues to heat up, with a group of shareholders seeking to take control of the company hurling accusations of bribery.

Cho Hyun-ah - sister of Hanjin KAL Chairman Cho Won-tae - Bando Construction & Engineering and KCGI are making the claims against Cho Won-tae.

It issued statements saying that the chairman is responsible for receiving illegal payments from Airbus. The group said Airbus bribed Korean Air Lines to secure contracts from 1996 to 2000, adding that $14.5 million changed hands from 2010 to 2013.

“The most worrying point of all is that Korean Air Lines, which is a global airline company, failed to conduct any board meeting or internal auditing in relation to the case,” the group said in a statement on Monday.

Korean Air Lines denied the allegation, saying that Chairman Cho is not involved in the case, as he started his career at the company in 2003.

Delta Air Lines has continued to increase its stake in Hanjin KAL ahead of the annual shareholder meeting, which is set for March 27.

It disclosed on Monday that it bought an additional 0.92 percent of the company’s shares, taking its ownership to 14.9 percent.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]