Governor Lim Behind Bars Friday After His Wife

Lim Chang-yuel, governor of Kyonggi Province, was arrested on bribery charges on Friday after his wife was behind bars a day earlier on the same charges.
The 53-year-old governor was accused of taking 100 million won from a local banker during his election campaign in May 1998, prosecutors said.
He will likely face dismissal from the governorship in the coming days as well.
The governor's wife, Chu Hae-ran, was behind bars Thursday on charges of taking 400 million won from the banker, who allegedly sought her husband's influence.
'We have questioned Mr. Lim overnight and decided to deal with his case strictly according to the law,' said senior prosecutor Yoo Sung-soo of the district prosecutor's office in Inchon, west of Seoul.
Seo Yi-seok, former head of the now-merged Kyonggi Bank, allegedly bribed Lim and Chu when the government moved to shut down his bank along with eight other local banks last year, prosecutors said.
Despite Lim's alleged lobbying for the bank, the government closed it a month after the governor's election in June 1998.
The banker was arrested last month on charges of taking kickbacks in return for doling out loans to businesses while he was the bank chief.
Shim Shang-bok : simsb@joongang.co.kr