Asan Institute chief resigns over embezzlement allegations

By Kim Yoo-chul

Hahm Chai-bong, chief of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, resigned from the post after it was alleged that he embezzled funds from the country's top-tier think tank.

According to prosecutors, Tuesday, Hahm is suspected of embezzling 1.1 billion won ($920,000) from the institute's account in 2014. The money was allegedly transferred to his wife's bank account and then used to buy an apartment in Seoul, they said.

“Hahm is also alleged to have spent the institute's money on an overseas family trip,” a prosecutor said. “Prosecutors recently obtained accounting documents." The institute said Hahm recently resigned from his post, without elaborating.

Hahm, a politics professor at Yonsei University, served as a presidential adviser on political affairs in 2010, before assuming the post of institute chief in 2010.