THE indictment on November 27 of Chung Tae-soo, head of the Hanbo Business Group and chairman of Hanbo Steel & General Construction, is thought unlikely to lead to the abandonment of tile company's ambitious integrated steelworks project. Chung became the first Korean business executive to be indicted on charges relating to the country's widening "slush-fund" scandal and the activities of former Korean president Roh Tae-woo. Analysts in Seoul believe that, although progress on Hanbo's massive steel project now taking shape at Asan, south of Seoul, may slow, it is unlikely that work on the massive project will stop completely. Korean president Kim Young-sam and the country's prosecutors seem to be targeting individuals only while investigating the scandal and are trying to avoid causing damage to the companies or groups to which their suspects belong. Nevertheless. Hanbo faces problems. For example, it is not known whether or not some of the 2.3 trillion Won that Hanbo is pumping into Asan was obtained through the chairman's connections with Roh -with the obvious implications should a link be uncovered.
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