Former lawmaker Thae Yong-ho speaks during a discussion at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., May 21. Yonhap
Former People Power Party lawmaker Thae Yong-ho’s eldest son has been arrested and handed over to prosecutors on allegations of cryptocurrency fraud involving about 1.6 billion won ($1.06 million).
According to Seoul Gangnam Police Station on Thursday, a man surnamed Thae was indicted and transferred to prosecutors on May 13 on charges including fraud, illegal fundraising, identity theft and embezzlement.
He is accused of deceiving acquaintances by using his father’s name and promising profits from cryptocurrency investments, then taking their money.
Police believe that the eldest son of the former foreign service official for the North Korean regime defrauded seven victims. He is also accused of embezzling from a publishing company run by his mother, author Oh Hye-sun.
During a 2024 parliamentary audit, while serving as secretary-general of the Presidential Advisory Council on Democratic and Peaceful Unification, Thae Yong-ho apologized over the allegations involving his eldest son.
“I deeply apologize for causing public concern because of my eldest son’s issue,” he said.
Before defecting to South Korea with his family in 2016, Tae Yong-ho served as deputy head of mission at North Korea’s embassy in the U.K. He later entered politics and won a National Assembly seat in the 2020 general election as a member of the conservative People Power Party.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.
Source: Korea Times News
