Maritime police have asked for an arrest warrant for Polaris Shipping chairman Kim Wan-joong over the sinking of the VLOC Stellar Daisy in 2017.
The Busan Coast Guard said warrants have also been sought for two other Polaris officials, according to the Yonhap news agency.
A court hearing was set for Thursday to decide on the matter.
The 264,000-dwt ore carrier (built 2013) went down off Uruguay on 1 April, 2017, killing 22 seafarers.
The report said police plan to press charges including negligent homicide against Kim.
An investigation is set to conclude by the end of February.
The only two surviving crew from the bulker were quoted as saying water ingress through hull cracking led to the tragedy.
