KT&G chief offers to resign amid slush fund probe

Min Young-jin, chief executive of Korea’s largest tobacco producer KT&G, offered to resign a week after prosecutors began probing slush fund allegations.

Min, whose term officially ends in seven months, attended the board meeting Wednesday to announce his intention to resign, KT&G said.

The board will convene a committee to sort out candidates.

Last week, Min was investigated at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office over embezzlement and breach of trust charges.

Prosecutors suspect that Min created a slush fund of an undisclosed amount through insider deals with subsidiaries beginning in 2010, the year of his inauguration.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)