Court issues arrest warrant against Hankook Ilbo owner

The Seoul Central District Court on Monday issued an arrest warrant for the owner of the country‘s leading newspaper on charges of embezzlement and neglect of duty.

Chang Jae-ku, chairman of the Hankook Ilbo, is suspected of having inflicted losses of 20 billion won ($17.94 million) and 10 billion won to the daily and its economic affiliate Seoul Economic Daily, respectively, and having taken 13 billion won from the economic paper’s coffer.

It is the first time for a media owner to have been arrested on charges of personal irregularities since 2001 when three newspaper owners were arrested on tax evasion charges. (Yonhap News)