A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Wednesday that Lott believed Kia officials were difficult to work with — and felt after the company announced it would locate its first U.S. plant in Georgia that Kia officials had not been straight-up with Mississippi about its plans.

Spokesman Lee Youngblood said Lott believed Kia was playing a game all along.

“Sen. Lott had no firsthand information, but he had a feeling all along that the company had some problems, but he did not let that stop his efforts,” Youngblood said. “He worked with them until the last minute.”

Kia officials last year said Meridian was the top choice for the new plant, but backed off when they learned Meridian’s population was smaller than what they thought.

Youngblood’s comments came after prosecutors in South Korea banned Kia’s president from leaving the country amid a bribery scandal there. Company officials postponed a groundbreaking ceremony for a $1.2 billion plant in Georgia.

Kia officials put off the April 26 ribbon-cutting in West Point, Ga., and have not set a new date.

Prosecutors in Seoul said Tuesday that Kia President Chung Eui-sun, son of Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo, is prohibited from leaving the country as they investigate allegations that South Korea’s largest automaker sought to bribe Korean government officials.

According to an article in a Seoul newspaper, Chosun: “Hyundai Automotive is suspected of having raised slush funds to bribe politicians and bureaucrats for business favors in past years. Prosecutors seemed to have evidence that the company used two of its affiliates — its delivery service unit Glovis and component-maker Hyundai Autonet — in the money-for-favor scandal.”

The newspaper went on to say that Chung Mong-koo “allegedly attempted to illegally transfer the company’s wealth and management rights to his son, Chung Eui-sun, who heads Kia Motors.”

Georgia officials said they are not worried about a delay in the overall project.

Bert Brantley, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said Wednesday he has received no indication that the project will be delayed, just the groundbreaking.

“It’s just a matter of a date change,” Brantley said. “We are having daily conversations with the company and they consistently say it all has to do with things that are happening in Korea and we should continue to move forward.”

Wade Jones, president of the East Mississippi Business Development Corp., said it would not be appropriate for him to comment.

“There are too many questions that need to be answered before speculating on whether or not it’s a good thing Kia didn’t come to Mississippi,” Jones said. “We are not in their shoes.”

Pete Smith, a spokesman for Gov. Haley Barbour, was not aware of the allegations against Kia’s top officials on Wednesday. But, he said, the governor would not comment on an ongoing investigation.



The Associated Press contributed to this report.