[6] The failure of Hanbo took place at a time when the authorities, influenced by the ideas of some reformers who opposed the concentration of economic power in chaebol, began to allow large corporate bankruptcies.
[8] Following a trial, in June 1997 the court said Hanbo Steel received illegal preferential treatment from the government of Korean president Kim Young-sam, primarily through loans issued by banks under pressure from bribed high-ranking politicians and bankers.
[3] Chung had previously been convicted of bribing officials: in 1991 to rezone a greenbelt around Seoul to permit a Hanbo Construction apartment complex, and in 1996 for giving $16 million to then-President Roh Tae Woo's slush fund.
[10][3] Eight other prominent figures, including former Home Minister Kim Woo Suk, several presidential aides and parliament members, and two former presidents of Korea First Bank were also handed sentences.
[14] In domestic Korean politics, the involvement of the son of Kim Young-sam in the scandal undermined his father's reforms and anti-corruption campaign.