Former Ssangbangwool Chairman Kim Seong-tae Arrives in Korea: "I Will Reveal Everything"... Transferred to Prosecution (Comprehensive)

The Immigration Bureau of the Thai police released on the 13th the image of former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae at the time of his arrest on the 10th (local time) at a golf course in Pathum Thani.
The Thai police mosaicked the faces of former Chairman Kim and Chairman Yang before releasing the image to the media. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae, who was apprehended in Thailand after living in hiding, returned to Korea through Incheon International Airport at around 8:20 a.m. on the 17th.

Kim, who got off the plane together with prosecutors' investigators, appeared wearing a blue shirt and red horn-rimmed glasses. He told the press, "I will sincerely cooperate with the investigation," and expressed, "It pains me that the hardworking employees of the company are hurt because of me." When asked about the allegations of Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, regarding the payment of legal fees, he replied, "I have no knowledge of that." He added, "I apologize for causing concern to the public because of me," and said, "I will clarify everything with the prosecution," before proceeding to immigration inspection. It is also reported that Yang Seon-gil, Chairman of Ssangbangwool Group, returned on the same flight through Incheon Airport on the same day.

The Criminal Division 6 of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-nam) plans to escort the two men to the prosecution office upon their arrival at the airport. They are expected to be investigated immediately upon arrival at the prosecution office and a detention warrant will likely be requested on the morning of the 18th. Prior to this, prosecutors sent investigators to Thailand and executed the arrest warrant about an hour after Kim and others boarded the flight to Korea. The decision to request a detention warrant must be made within 48 hours after executing the arrest warrant. Previously, Kim and others were arrested on the 10th at a golf course located in Pathum Thani, Thailand. This comes eight months after Kim suddenly left for Singapore ahead of a prosecution raid in May last year.

Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Photo by Yonhap News

Kim is currently under investigation by the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, which is examining suspicious financial flows within Ssangbangwool Group. He is accused of involvement and directing the false disclosure of Ssangbangwool's CB convertible bond transactions during 2018-2019 (charges include embezzlement, breach of trust, and violations of the Capital Markets Act). He is also charged with illegally transferring $6.4 million (approximately 7.2 billion KRW at the time) to China and then sending it to North Korea during 2018-2019 (charges of remittance to North Korea). Kim is also drawing attention as a key figure in the allegations regarding Lee Jae-myung's 'payment of legal fees.' Prosecutors believe that as the actual owner of Ssangbangwool, Kim instructed the company to cover 230 million KRW in legal fees for lawyer Lee Tae-hyung during Lee's trial for election law violations in 2018-2019.

Kim is expected to deny all these charges. Before boarding the flight to Korea, he told reporters in Thailand, "I do not know Lee well and have never spoken with him on the phone." Regarding the embezzlement and breach of trust charges, he said, "I did not cause any damage to the company," and about the remittance to North Korea, he stated, "I transferred personal money for business purposes."

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