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Kim, 55, chairman of the Hanwha Group, was convicted of attacking the men with the aid of his bodyguards, to punish them for scuffling with his son.

He admitted responsibility for much of the violence, but said his bodyguards took over when he “got tired”.

The case has generated intense public interest in South Korea.

Heads of family-controlled business conglomerates like Hanwha - which has interests in petrochemicals, finance, insurance, est finance financial hill in insurance international irwin management mcgraw real series
and retail - wield huge power.

Courts have often been lenient with these business leaders, but correspondents say the ruling in Kim’s case shows that the judiciary is becoming more even-handed when sentencing the rich and powerful.

Serious injury

Passing sentence at Seoul District Court, the judge, Kim Chul-hwan, said Kim Seung-youn had used his position to take revenge on the workers, carrying out the attacks in a “systematic manner”.

“The violation of the law is big and is serious,” said the judge.

During the trial, prosecutors told the court that this was a revenge attack after an incident involving the defendant’s son, Kim Dong-won, a Yale University student.

Kim Dong-won, 22, was reported to have needed stitches for an eye injury sustained in a brawl with bar workers at the Seoul club.

Kim Seung-youn was said to have mobilised his bodyguards and local gangsters to take the off-duty bar workers to a mountainside construction site, where the revenge beating occurred.

The judge found the tycoon guilty of “beating the defenceless victims with a metal pipe, and dictionary finance insurance international
them with a stun gun,” although none of the workers sustained serious injuries.

The court ruled that a jail sentence was inevitable.

Before being taken into custody, Kim Seung-Youn apologised, saying that he had lost his temper and hoped that foolish fathers like himself would think twice before following his actions.

Heavier penalties

Traditionally, senior Korean business leaders have enjoyed favourable treatment by the courts in car insurance finance company of their banking finance insurance job uk to building the country’s economy.

More recently, however, the courts have started to hand down heavier sentences on the business elite.

In February Chung Mong-koo, the chairman of Hyundai motors, was sentenced to three years in jail for breach of trust and embezzling company funds.

Mr Chung appealed earlier this year and prosecutors reacted by asking for his sentence to be increased to six years.

According to the Finance Ministry, foreign firms sank more than 4 trillion yen ($36bn; 20bn) into Japan in the 12 months to March.

The figure, which had doubled in three years, was driven by an upsurge in money coming from the US.

Japan has till now had a reputation for being hostile to foreign investment.

Its corporate structures have dictionary finance insurance international
been set up to cement cross-shareholdings between Japanese companies, preventing hostile takeovers by either domestic or outside buyers.

Reform

Recent legal changes could make mergers easier, after Japan’s upper house of parliament on Wednesday backed a law already passed by the lower house.

But the rules still make hostile bids difficult, by easing restrictions on so-called “poison pill” defences which allow existing shareholders to buy up stock at reduced prices, thus driving off predators.

Car giant Toyota has been one firm which has said it was banking finance insurance job uk enacting a “poison pill” in case of a takeover attempt.

They have also been delayed a year, allowing for companies to take defensive measures.

Net importer

Still, the finance and insurance school of buying businesses in Japan seems not to have dissuaded foreign investors, the Finance Ministry figures indicate.

Many Japanese firms have dropped sharply in value after a decade of home personal finance insurance
recession.

The biggest draw was the finance and insurance sector, which accounted for almost 75% of the investment.

As much as half of the 1,400 trillion yen saved in Japan is sitting in accounts offering little or no interest, making for a tempting finance insurance statistical tool - and a demand for overseas expertise.

In contrast, Japanese investment overseas has fallen to 3.8 trillion yen - making Japan a net importer of investment for the first time since records began in 1950.

A key change was a shift in focus from the US - traditionally the most attractive destination for Japanese funds - to China, as economic ties grow and outsourcing of manufacturing increases.

China attracted 491bn yen, up nearly 40% from the year before and 340% since 2000.

The US, in contrast, attracted just 503bn yen - less than half the 2003/04 figure.