Two fugitive Korean underwear bosses arrested in Thailand

Police arrested two wanted Korean fugitives – the former and current chairman of the Ssangbangwool Group – on a golf course in Thailand yesterday after eight months on the run.

According to prosecutors in South Korea, the pair were arrested by Thai police on a golf course in Pathum Thani province just north of Bangkok at 7.30pm.

South Korean prosecutors suspect that the former chairman Kim Seong-tae is central to several high-profile corruption scandals within the underwear company. He is facing several corruption charges including embezzlement, violations of the capital markets act, and transfer of cash remittances to North Korea.

Kim is suspected of inciting dozens of people, including Ssangbangwool employees, to smuggle around US$6.4 million to China between 2018-19 and transfer it to North Korea.

He is also suspected of paying the attorney expenses of…