A lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party claimed Monday that troubled

shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering sent the chief editor of a top local daily on a luxurious overseas tour, apparently seeking favorable news coverage.

According to Rep. Kim Jin-tae, the chief journalist was Song Hee-young, the chief editor at South Korea’s top daily newspaper Chosun Ilbo. Song allegedly went on a tour in 2011 involving a private jet flight, yacht cruise and golf trips in Europe.

“Having heard that the chief journalist made a counterargument, I could not but mention his actual name,” said the lawmaker who, in his initial press conference last Friday, had kept Song’s name and affiliation under wraps.

Rep. Kim estimated the total cost of Song’s trip at some 200 million won ($177,714), unlike Chosun Ilbo’s claim that Song was on a business trip to cover the Greek financial crisis, which only cost about 2 million won.

“But his itinerary included not only Greece, but also Italy and UK, where Song toured famous tourist spots such as Naples and Rome, and his yacht ride cost over 33 million won per day,” Kim said.

“Song also turned out to have played golf in London, free of charge, which seems to be quite unrelated to the sovereign default of Greece.”

DSME, which came under fire after recording a massive net loss last year, is currently under probe over alleged frauds involving its former CEO and its publicist.

Song offered his resignation in the afternoon, hours after the Saenuri lawmaker’s accusations.

By Bae Hyun-jung(tellme@heraldcorp.com)