We may have gone overboard on shipwreck treasure claims, says Shinil
The incident has led Singapore-based Shinil Group, to deny any relationship between it and the South Korean company, though their founders are siblings
Seoul — A South Korean company that said it had found a long-lost Russian "treasure ship", causing a stock market flurry, apologised on Thursday and admitted it had not gleaned any riches from the wreck. Start-up business Shinil Group announced last week it had discovered the imperial vessel Dmitri Donskoi off South Korea’s east coast, saying the ship was believed to contain gold bullion and coins worth $130bn. But financial regulators on Wednesday launched an investigation into the firm after news of the discovery caused the stock price of Jeil Steel — a company in which Shinil’s founder had acquired a large stake — to jump fivefold. Critics noted that in 2003 another firm had already sparked a stock bubble by announcing the discovery of the Donskoi, which sank in a 1905 naval battle against Japan. On Thursday Shinil said it may have gone overboard on the claims and apologised for the "misunderstanding", saying speculation on the value of treasure contained within the ship was base...
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