Arrest warrant in beating case

The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant Wednesday for Chey Chul-won, the former CEO of logistics company M&M and a cousin of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, on charges of beating the driver of a tanker truck with an aluminum bat.

Police started an investigation after the 52-year-old driver, Yu Hong-jin, said a relative of the conglomerate’s chairman beat him 13 times with a baseball bat at M&M in Yongsan, Seoul, on Oct.18 in front of other employees.

According to police, Yu was working for a shipping company that M&M bought last year. M&M allegedly told Yu that he had to leave his labor union if he wanted to keep his job. When he refused, Yu was fired, police said.

The enraged driver held a demonstration in front of SK Group, insisting on a dialogue with the chairman of the group.

Chey allegedly called Yu to his office at M&M and started beating him with a bat in front of other employees, saying he would pay “a million won ($879) for each blow.”

When the driver begged him to stop, Chey allegedly said, “From now on it’s three million won per blow,” and struck him three more times.

Chey allegedly gave 20 million won to Yu, calling it his “beating price.”

By Kim Hee-jin [heejin@joongang.co.kr]