The head of South Korea's sole English-language television channel, Arirang TV, has offered to quit after being accused of misusing taxpayers' money, the culture ministry said Tuesday.
The resignation offer by Bang Suk-ho came a day after an opposition lawmaker accused him of spending 7.5 million won (US$6,000) on a first-class flight to New York, nearly $700 per day on a rental car and over $1,400 on dinners at top New York City restaurants in September.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which oversees the English-language network, said no decision has been made yet on whether to accept Bang's resignation.
These expenditures were made when Bang was on a business trip to attend a U.N. General Assembly meeting, Rep. Choi Min-hee of the Minjoo Party said in a statement.
Bang says he was treating the head of the Korea Culture Service in New York to a caviar dinner, but the organization has denied the claim.
In May 2015, Bang made an unplanned business trip to New York, during which he flew to North Carolina to treat his son to a $1,000 graduation dinner, Rep. Choi added.
The ministry said Bang claimed the financial statement may have been doctored or been false.
The ministry has launched a special investigation into the matter, which will continue even after his resignation.
Meanwhile, Arirang TV admitted allegations that Bang misused company funds to finance his lavish family trip in May 2015.
"He put his son's graduation dinner on his company card by accident because he was carrying too many cards then," the network said.
But the channel denied that his expenditures in September were illegitimate, saying although some figures may have been inflated due to an accounting error, the company didn't pay for his wife and daughter's stay in New York. (Yonhap)