Ex-Korean minister charged with swaying Samsung merger vote

Moon's conviction would raise serious questions about the legitimacy of the $8-billion merger

A former cabinet minister was arrested Saturday on charges that he illegally pressured the national pension fund to approve a merger between two Samsung subsidiaries, a deal that helped ensure that control of South Korea’s most powerful conglomerate passed from its chairman to his son.

Prosecutors have accused the former official, Moon Hyung-pyo, of ordering South Korea’s National Pension Service to cast a crucial vote in favour of the merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in July of 2015, when Moon was the health and welfare minister. Moon is now chairman of the pension fund, the world’s third largest, which