Yoo Hyuk-ki, Second Son and Successor of Yoo Byung-eun, Repatriated to Korea... Suspected of Embezzlement and Breach of Trust Involving 50 Billion Won

The Last Fugitive of the Sewol Ferry Disaster Overseas

Nine years after the Sewol ferry disaster, Hyuk-gi Yoo (50), the second son of the late Yoo Byung-eun, former chairman of the Semo Group, was forcibly repatriated to South Korea. Hyuk-gi is the last of the four fugitives who fled overseas in connection with the Sewol ferry disaster to be returned to the country.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Incheon District Prosecutors' Office arrested Yoo on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and repatriated him to Incheon International Airport on the 4th. The prosecution escort team received Yoo from U.S. investigative authorities on a Korean Air passenger flight bound for Korea at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York the previous day and executed the arrest warrant.

The passenger plane carrying Yoo was originally scheduled to arrive at Incheon Airport Terminal 2 at around 5:20 a.m. that day, but due to a delayed departure from the U.S., it landed at around 7:20 a.m.

Yoo was immediately transferred to the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, which is handling the Sewol-related investigation, and is scheduled to be interrogated. The prosecution views Yoo as the successor to the late chairman Yoo, who was identified as the de facto controlling shareholder of the Sewol ferry operator, Cheonghaejin Marine Company. Yoo is suspected of conspiring with subsidiary company representatives to embezzle a total of 55.9 billion won under the pretext of consulting fees and causing losses to the company.

As a U.S. permanent resident, Yoo did not return to Korea despite three summonses by the prosecution since late April 2014. Consequently, the prosecution issued a red notice for Yoo through Interpol and requested his extradition. Yoo was eventually arrested in New York in July 2020 and brought to extradition proceedings. The U.S. court ruled the following year that Yoo was subject to extradition.

Yoo filed a habeas corpus petition against this decision, but it was finally dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court in January. Even after that, as the U.S. Department of State's extradition approval process continued, the Ministry of Justice invited U.S. Department of Justice officials to South Korea in May to resume the regular Korea-U.S. Criminal Cooperation Working Meeting after four years and requested a swift repatriation. With the U.S. final approval, this repatriation was realized.