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The chairman of Hyundai Motor has avoided a three-year jail term but had his convictions for embezzlement and breach of trust upheld.

Chung Mung-koo, the son of Hyundai's founder, had his three-year jail sentence suspended at Seoul's high court. The suspension is contingent on Chung donating 1 trillion won to charity and doing other good works, such as building cultural centres across Korea, over the next seven years.

Judge Lee Jae-hong said that the court did not want to "take a gamble" on causing a financial or economic crisis by sending Chung to jail. "The Hyundai Motor Company plays a huge role in the country's economy," he said.

Chung was convicted in February of embezzling about $100 million of company funds and damaging affiliate companies' rights issues.