Lee Jang-han, chairman of pharmaceutical company Chong Kun Dang종근당, issued a public apology Friday over his abusive remarks against his drivers.

Lee has come under public scrutiny after one of his drivers released a seven-minute audio tape to the Hankyoreh newspaper Thursday where Lee is heard directing his driver to drive illegally, and then berating him, saying things like, “why don’t you quit since you don’t know how to drive,” and “your parents must be sorry to have had you.”

When the driver responded with one-worded replies like “Yes, sir,” the chairman cursed out his driver saying, “Who do you think you are?” and “Are you talking back to me? You arrogant piece of shit.”

Three of Lee’s drivers quit in the span of one year. In a comment to the media, the drivers remarked that they “suffered from extreme stress.” The driver that had released the audio tape had worked for over a year with Lee.

Chong Kun Dang Chairman Lee Jang-han이장한 makes a deep bow after apologizing for his verbal abuses of his chauffeurs, at the company’s headquarter office Friday.

On Friday, the chairman bowed in a brief two-minute apology.

“I apologize for the disruption I have caused with the recent remarks. I ask for the forgiveness of the people I have hurt with my actions. I bow in apology,” he said.

He declined to answer any questions.

Copyright © KBR Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution prohibited