Head of Hyundai Motor Co. arrested

SEOUL, April 28 (UPI) -- South Korean authorities Friday arrested Hyundai Motor Co. Chairman Chung Mong Koo on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust.

Chung's arrest electrified a nation accustomed to thinking of the 68-year-old corporate brahmin as the genius behind Hyundai's phenomenal rise, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Chung faces charges of embezzling roughly $105 million and misappropriating another $315 million in the slush fund and illegal asset transfer probe.

The arrest followed prosecutors' questioning of Chung Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation at graft in the highest reaches of South Korea's industrial establishment.

Officials have also drawn a bead on Chung's 35-year-old son, Chung Eui Sun, the president of Hyundai affiliate Kia Motors Corp.