English translation of the original Korean report. Images and source documents may contain Korean text.

It was revealed that Cho Hyun-bum, chairman of Hankook & Company Group, who was paroled despite receiving disciplinary action twice while incarcerated, received a salary as a ‘full-time’ chairman at Hankook Tire & Technology even during the period he was being disciplined.

The company refused to answer questions about whether it was aware of the disciplinary actions when determining his salary.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on the 3rd, Chairman Cho received a total of 553 million won from Hankook Tire in the first half of this year, including 546 million won in salary and 7 million won in other employment income. Chairman Cho was in prison from May 29 last year, when he was taken into custody by the court after his first trial, until his parole on July 30 this year.

Chairman Cho’s disciplinary actions during his incarceration became known when data received by Representative Park Eun-jung’s office (Cho Kuk Innovation Party) from the Ministry of Justice was disclosed on the 2nd. Chairman Cho received disciplinary action twice for bringing in outside items. The first was for bringing in beverages late last year, and the second was for bringing in snacks in early March this year.

The Ministry of Justice’s Parole Review Committee deemed Chairman Cho eligible for parole on July 22, about four months after his second disciplinary action. Chairman Cho was released about a month before his sentence completion date of September 5. While the Ministry of Justice’s internal regulation, the ‘Parole Work Guidelines,’ designates inmates who have received disciplinary action as subject to parole restrictions, the Ministry of Justice did not disclose whether Chairman Cho fell under this category. The Ministry of Justice explained, “Whether parole is granted is not determined solely by the effectiveness of disciplinary action.”

March, when he received his second disciplinary action, was in the middle of the first half of the year during which Hankook Tire paid Chairman Cho his salary. Hankook & Company, the holding company, stated in its semi-annual report that as of June 30, Chairman Cho concurrently held the position of Hankook Tire chairman as ‘full-time’. ‘Full-time’ means an executive who works permanently at the company.

Hankook Tire stated in its semi-annual report that Chairman Cho’s salary was determined by comprehensively considering his ‘rank and position, responsibilities and roles of duties performed,’ the ‘value of his duties, such as demonstrating innovative leadership,’ and his contribution to performance.

At the time, Chairman Cho was arrested and imprisoned on charges of occupational embezzlement for personal use of company funds, occupational breach of trust, and bribery, and his two-year prison sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in May. This means that the same salary criteria were applied to a chairman who was serving a sentence for charges of causing damage to the company and was disciplined for even violating prison rules.

Hankook & Company Group stated on the 3rd that it had no official position on inquiries asking whether the company was aware of Chairman Cho’s disciplinary actions and whether it considered them when determining his salary.

His remuneration did not decrease last year, when the first disciplinary action occurred. Chairman Cho received 9.29 billion won in 2025, including 4.753 billion won from Hankook Tire and 4.537 billion won from Hankook & Company. This was the year he spent seven months of the year in prison. Of this, 6.556 billion won was a performance bonus. Hankook & Company cited his contribution to ‘discovering future new growth engines, such as the acquisition of Hanon Systems,’ as the reason for the bonus.

■ Resigned as Registered Director, Beyond Remuneration Control… No Employment Restrictions Due to Acquittal Under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes.

Chairman Cho resigned as CEO and internal director of Hankook & Company on February 20 while incarcerated, but maintained his title as chairman. When the Hankook & Company Shareholder Alliance, a group of minority shareholders, proposed an agenda item at the March general shareholders’ meeting to “set Director Cho Hyun-bum’s remuneration for 2026 at 0 won,” the company did not put the item on the agenda, stating that Chairman Cho was not a registered director and therefore did not receive remuneration as a director, and that it was an ‘issue the company could not implement.’ The salary of an unregistered chairman is not subject to the remuneration limits for directors set by the general shareholders’ meeting, nor is it subject to board of directors’ resolutions.

The Supreme Court upheld Chairman Cho’s two-year prison sentence on May 8. While he was found guilty of occupational embezzlement, breach of trust, and bribery, he was acquitted of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (Specific Economic Crimes Act) and violation of the Fair Trade Act. The Specific Economic Crimes Act prohibits individuals convicted of embezzlement or breach of trust involving 500 million won or more from being employed by related companies for five years after completing their sentence. Chairman Cho is not subject to this restriction as he was acquitted of the Specific Economic Crimes Act charges.

Chairman Cho is the largest shareholder of Hankook & Company, holding a 42.03% stake. Including related parties, the stake is 47.24%. Hankook & Company is in turn the largest shareholder of Hankook Tire, holding a 30.67% stake, and Chairman Cho also holds a 7.73% stake in Hankook Tire in his personal name. The group’s ‘same person’ designated by the Fair Trade Commission is his father, Cho Yang-rai, honorary chairman of Hankook & Company Group.

Chairman Cho attended the ‘Junior Board’ workshop, a group future leader program, on the 12th-13th of last month, about two months after his release, to discuss organizational culture improvement and talent development directions. This was his first management activity publicly disclosed since his parole.