Daelim Group, a family-owned construction business-driven conglomerate with a 77-year history, is being exposed to risks following rising public anger at the revelations of longtime physical and verbal abuse of chauffers by the heir apparent.
According to local Internet news site No Cut News on Wednesday, Lee Hae-wook, vice chairman of flagship affiliate Daelim Industrial, habitually abuses his chauffeurs by bad-mouthing them and risks their lives while driving, quoting former drivers.
Describing a two-week period of driving as “hell,” his former driver, who declined to identify himself, said, “I was required to start and stop the car gently to the extent that even a drop of water should not overflow from a cup full of water.”
While starting the car gently, the driver had to still maintain a fast speed as the 48-year-old heir apparent would not tolerate a large gap with the car in front. “If there was (too big) a gap with the car ahead, Lee immediately yelled and abused me, even beating my while driving,” he said.
Daelim Industrial vice chairman Lee Hae-wook
Another former chauffeur said he was afraid of getting into an accident while driving with the side-view mirror folded, which was apparently required to prove his driving skills.
The sign of abuse carried out by the oldest son of Daelim Group honorary chairman Lee Joon-yong was found in the company’s guidelines for drivers hired.
The guidelines, partially posted on the web, state shocking requirements such as drivers have to tolerate being treated badly -- such as being verbally abused -- alongside driving with side mirrors folded.
In response to the news report, a company spokesperson said, “We need more time to verify internally whether the news report is true.” However, he confirmed that the company has such guidelines.
The fuss over the behavior of the group’s owner family member dropped shares of Daelim Industrial to 86,500 won ($69.41) on Wednesday, a 1.14 percent down from 87,500 won the previous day.
Lee recently came under fire for the merger between two affiliates, whose main businesses have little synergy effect, aimed at raising his control over Daelim Corp., the de facto holding company of the group, last April.
The holding company acquired unlisted Daelim I&S, controlled by Lee, last September, which raised Lee’s stake in Daelim Corp. to 52.3 percent.
“With the deal, Lee secured stability in control over the group in governance,’’ a stock market analyst said.
Daelim, one of the oldest construction firms in Korea, is one of the top 20 conglomerates with sales of 11.1 trillion won last year.
The builder has a good reputation in overseas construction markets in many sectors such as civil engineering and plant building. Its overseas orders reached up to 12.9 trillion won last year, 41 percent higher than its annual target.
By Seo Jee-yeon and Shin Ji-hye
(jyseo@heraldcorp.com) (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)