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Prosecutors launch investigation into arrested son of Sewol ferry owner

Prosecutors began questioning the eldest son of the late owner of the ferry Sewol Saturday, a day after he was arrested on suspicion of embezzlement related to the ship's sinking that left more than 300 people killed or missing, Yonhap News reported.

Yoo Dae-kyun, 44, the son of Yoo Byung-eun, had been at large since the ferry's sinking off South Korea's southwest coast on April 16. On Friday, he was arrested by police at a hideout in a town just outside Seoul together with Park Soo-kyung, a 34-year-old female bodyguard, the report said..

Prosecutors kicked off their investigation into the younger Yoo and Park to find out details about their escape.

Police and prosecutors had sought the senior Yoo -- a religious figure and ex-convict -- and his key family members over alleged corruption they believe contributed to the ferry's sinking.

The son told investigators that he fled on fears that he may suffer difficulties as his 73-year-old father had during a probe decades ago on Odaeyang, a religious cult, of which his father was a key member, according to Yonhap.

Because of his leadership role in Odaeyang, the senior Yoo made himself a suspect in the cult's 1987 mass suicide-murder. More than

30 people from the cult were found dead, bound and gagged in a factory outside of Seoul. (From news report)