US asks South Korea to arrest brother of former UN chief Ban Ki-moon over bribery claims
Ban, the former UN chief who is ranked second in opinion polls among potential candidates for South Korean president, has said he was embarrassed that family members had been implicated
During a court hearing in federal court in Manhattan, Assistant US Attorney Daniel Noble said that a request had been made for the arrest of Ban Ki-sang, who was an executive at South Korean construction firm Keangnam Enterprises.
Noble said the United States plans to seek his extradition, “but as of yet, he has not been apprehended”. South Korea’s Justice Ministry is discussing with the US government on the request to arrest Ban but “it is not yet a formal consultation” Yonhap news agency quoted an unnamed source in the country’s judiciary as saying.
Officials at the Justice Ministry could not be reached for comment. An official at the foreign affairs section of the national police said the agency has yet to receive a formal request to arrest Ban and declined to give further details. Ban Ki-sang could not be reached for comment. An official at Keangnam said Ban had left the company in March 2015 and it was not aware of his whereabouts.
Ban Ki-sang was one of four people charged on January 10 in a case that has complicated his brother’s expected run for president of South Korea following his recently finished term at the United Nations.
The case has already resulted in the arrest of another of the former UN chief’s relatives, Joo Hyun “Dennis” Bahn, a real estate broker living in New Jersey who is Ban Ki-moon’s nephew and Ban Ki-sang’s son.
