Prosecutors said Sunday they plan to reapply for a warrant to arrest a former head of the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) facing bribery charges, a day after a Seoul court rejected the initial request.
Prosecutors said they will seek to formally arrest Kang Man-soo on charges of bribery and breach of trust. The 71-year-old is accused of receiving large kickbacks from Hansung Enterprise Co., a local seafood maker, since 2008. He was the country's finance minister from 2008 to 2009 under the Lee Myung-bak administration.
The company chief, Lim Woo-kun, attended the same high school with Kang.
The Seoul Central District Court turned down the prosecution's first request on Saturday, on the grounds that it's difficult to determine the necessity for detention when Kang's allegations are still disputable.
Kang also allegedly peddled unlawful influence to help Hansung Enterprise receive some 24 billion won (US$21.7 million) in loans from the KDB in 2011.
Kang was the KDB chief from 2011 to 2013. Before that, he was a special presidential adviser from 2009 to 2011 under Lee Myung-bak.
Kang is also suspected of exerting influence on Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. to make the shipbuilder invest in a local biotech firm run by his acquaintance.
Daewoo Shipbuilding injected some 4.4 billion won into the firm's research project between 2012 and 2013. The funding stopped following Kang's retirement, according to prosecutors.
The KDB is the largest shareholder of the financially troubled shipbuilder.
His alleged irregularities emerged after prosecutors launched a full-fledged investigation into the shipyard earlier this year. (Yonhap)
