Former maritime minister in South Korea arrested on bribery charges

Federal prosecutors in South Korea on Sunday requested an arrest warrant for the country's former minister of maritime affairs over bribery charges, Korean newspapers reported.

Kang Moo-hyun, 57, served as minister under former president Roh Moo-hyun from May 2007 to February 2008. Kang is the first official to be formally linked to a widespread bribery investigation into Roh's administration.

The Seoul Central District Court will review the warrant request today.

Kang allegedly received about $90,000 total from six or seven shipping companies during his tenure as the vice minister and the minister between October 2004 through February 2008, about one-third of which he received as minister, according to local news reports. Kang allegedly accepted the money in exchange for changing routes or giving favor to certain projects. Prosecutors recently found that Kang had a bank account under the name of his wife抯 relative since 2004, from which roughly $200,000 in checks and cash were transacted. The prosecutors finally pressed ahead with the warrant after confirming that most of the deposited money was from the shipping companies by tracing the bank account.

Prosecutors also have arrested an unnamed vice chairman of a shipping company said to be implicated in the bribery scheme. 

Source: American Shipper