SANTA ANA, Calif.—Prosecutors say an Orange County man who fled to his native South Korea to avoid arrest has pleaded guilty to killing a motorcyclist while under the influence of alcohol.

The Orange County district attorney's office says Youn Bum Lee entered his plea Tuesday in Superior Court.

Officials say Lee, who had been drinking, drove his SUV with the headlights off and crashed into a freeway median in October 2005. Ryan Dallas Cook crashed into Lee's vehicle and was thrown onto the freeway where he was struck by three cars. He died at the scene.

Prosecutors say Lee fled the scene and left the next day for South Korea. He was arrested in 2008 on a fugitive warrant.

Lee faces up to nine years in prison.
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Ex-Hyundai executive pleads guilty in fatal crash

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A former Hyundai Motor America executive has pleaded guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter in a drunken driving crash that killed a motorcyclist in Orange County.

Forty-two-year-old Youn Bum Lee made his plea Tuesday in the 2005 death of college student Ryan Dallas Cook.

Prosecutors say Lee crashed his company car after drinking with colleagues. Cook slammed into Lee's car and was thrown onto the freeway, where he was hit by other cars. Cook was pronounced dead at the scene.

Prosecutors say Lee boarded a flight to Korea the day after the crash, leaving his family behind. Lee was arrested in Seoul last year and was returned in January to Orange County.

Lee is expected to be sentenced to nine years in prison Dec. 7.

Information from: The Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com