Chairman Yoo Byung-eun's Second Son Yoo Hyuk-gi Arrested at New York Residence... Expected to Be Extradited to Korea Through Criminal Extradition Procedures

The second son of former Samho Group chairman Yoo Byung-eun, Yoo Hyuk-gi. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Yoo Hyuk-gi (48), the second son of former Semo Group chairman Yoo Byung-eon who died in 2014, has been arrested in the United States.

It is expected to take considerable time for Yoo to be extradited to South Korea through the criminal extradition process. Once Yoo is extradited, the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, which handled the investigation of the Yoo family, is likely to investigate Yoo on charges such as embezzlement and breach of trust.

According to the Ministry of Justice and foreign media on the 24th, Yoo was arrested on the 22nd (local time) at his residence in Westchester County, New York.

Nicole Nabers Oxman, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice, stated that Yoo was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) without resistance and appeared via video in White Plains District Court on the same day while in custody.

She also revealed that the Office of International Affairs (OIA) under the U.S. Department of Justice and the Southern District of New York Prosecutors' Office are currently conducting the criminal extradition procedure for Yoo.

Yoo, a U.S. permanent resident, was the only one among Yoo Byung-eon's two sons and two daughters whose whereabouts had not been secured by prosecutors.

He had refused to return to South Korea despite three summonses from Korean prosecutors following the Sewol ferry disaster in April 2014.

At that time, prosecutors issued a red notice for Yoo through Interpol and requested his extradition, but his whereabouts remained unknown for six years until his recent arrest.

Yoo was known as the de facto successor who led the management of affiliated companies following Yoo Byung-eon.

Prosecutors also believe that after the bankruptcy of Semo Group in 1997, Yoo Byung-eon, who stepped down from frontline management, effectively directed the affiliated company presidents through Yoo and former Moonjin Media CEO Kim Mo.

In fact, Yoo appeared as a co-conspirator along with former CEO Kim in almost all criminal facts listed in the indictments of eight close aides of Yoo Byung-eon, who were prosecuted in 2014 on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust.

Previously, Yoo Byung-eon was found dead in July 2014. His eldest son, Dae-gyun, was sentenced to two years in prison on charges including embezzlement, and his eldest daughter, Seom-na, who was also accused of embezzlement, was forcibly extradited from France in 2017 after three years of evasion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.