Prosecutors questioned a key aide to the late shipping tycoon blamed for April’s ferry disaster for the second day on Wednesday over alleged corruption in connection with the deadly tragedy.
Kim Hea-kyung, 52, one of the closest aides to Yoo Byung-eun, the late owner of the ferry Sewol, was repatriated to South Korea from the United States Tuesday and was immediately taken into custody by prosecutors.
Investigators at the prosecution office in the western port city of Incheon said they grilled Kim on the whereabouts of assets belonging to Yoo and his family that are believed to be hidden at home and abroad.
Kim is suspected of involvement in the embezzlement of about
US$23 million from a religious organization affiliated with Cheonghaejin Marine Co. Ltd., the shipping firm that operated the Sewol, prosecutors said.
Kim, who was arrested in Virginia in early September, had been wanted for her role in a string of irregularities believed to have contributed to the sinking that claimed the lives of more than 300 people, most of them high school students on a school excursion.
She entered the U.S. in March on a 90-day visa waiver program and overstayed after local authorities began seeking her in connection with the April 17 disaster.
The prosecution office said it plans to seek a warrant against Kim soon for further questioning. (Yonhap)
