A former head of the Navy was arrested Thursday over allegations that he took bribes from a shipbuilding conglomerate when he was in office seven years ago.

Retired Adm. Jung Ok-geun allegedly took bribes from STX Group, a now financially troubled shipping and shipbuilding conglomerate, in the form of sponsorship to a yacht event in October 2008, a government anti-corruption task force said.

The group's two subsidiaries, which produce high-speed vessels and engines for naval vessels, paid 770 million won (US$704,000) to the event organized by a company whose majority stake was owned by Jung's eldest son, investigators said.

The yacht company went out of business shortly thereafter, raising suspicions that it may have been a paper company.

Investigators are focused on whether the sponsorship was a cover-up for bribes. They believe STX paid Jung and his son to award it contracts for the nation's shipbuilding projects.

Jung headed the Navy for two years from March 2008, meaning the alleged bribery took place while he was in office, investigators said.

His son was arrested a day earlier on the same charges.

The then STX head, Kang Duk-soo, who decided to sponsor the yacht event, had also been interrogated. He is currently serving a six-year jail sentence for embezzlement and malpractice.

The government has tightened oversight of the defense industry since late last year after an expensive homegrown ship failed to rescue those missing from a ferry disaster in April. The disaster claimed more than 300 lives. (Yonhap)