A close disciple of the shipping tycoon blamed for the April 16 ferry disaster returned to Korea on Tuesday after months on the lam in the U.S. and turned himself in to police.
Lawyers for Kim Pil-bae, a former chief of Moonjin Media, a subsidiary of ferry operator Cheonghaejin Marine, had announced his return a few days ago.
Kim Pil-bae (in mask) arrives at the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office on Tuesday. /Newsis Kim boarded a flight in Hawaii on Tuesday morning and was arrested right after he landed at Incheon International Airport and taken away for questioning.
Kim is believed to have managed ferry owner Yoo Byung-eon's vast corporate empire after Yoo officially went bankrupt, and has been charged with embezzling tens of billions of won from Cheonghaejin Marine and other affiliates along with Yoo's second son Hyuk-ki, who is still fighting a summons to return to Korea.
Dressed in a black jacket with his face hidden behind a mask, Kim was bombarded with questions from reporters when he arrived at the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office. When asked if he admits the charges against him, Kim replied, "I'll have to look into that." He added, "I turned myself in because I couldn't stand the anxiety, but I did not run away from the law and was merely resting after retirement."
Prosecutors believe Yoo, who was declared bankrupt in 1997, appointed Kim and his second son to top positions in his companies and used them to maintain control over his vast clandestine fortunes.
Kim is believed to know the size and location of Yoo's hidden assets, which prosecutors hope to seize to cover the cost of compensating victims of the ferry disaster and the massive cost of the search and rescue operation.
Kim fled to the U.S. in just after the ferry disaster and went into hiding. Prosecutors canceled his passport, thereby turning him into an illegal alien in the U.S., and turned to Interpol to hunt him down.
Kim appears to have turned himself in because he was unable to deal with the pressure of a fugitive life. He may also have been affected by the lighter-than-expected sentences other executives of Yoo's businesses received so far.
