Court rejects arrest warrant for former special counsel accused of corruption

Social Affairs

Published: 30 Jun. 2023, 13:55

Court rejects arrest warrant for former special counsel accused of corruption

Former special counsel Park Young-soo is surrounded by reporters as he leaves the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, after his warrant review hearing ended on Thursday afternoon. [NEWS1]

The Seoul Central District Court rejected an arrest warrant for former special counsel Park Young-soo Friday morning amid corruption allegations tied to a prominent land development scandal.

The court denied the prosecution's request to detain Park after determining that there is "room for dispute" regarding the evidence related to the bribery allegations, noting that an arrest at this point can infringe "right to defense."

"At this stage, It is difficult to recognize the significance of an arrest at this stage," the judge said.

Park, who formerly served as the chair of Woori Bank's board of directors, is suspected of receiving 800 million won ($611,000) in bribes from private developers in return for lending Woori Bank's support to the Daejang-dong development in 2014.

In their warrant request, prosecutors alleged that Park and his assistant Yang Jae-sik were promised profits of 20 billion won, and two properties from private developers involved in the project, but that the amount decreased to 5 billion won after the bank downsized its stake in the project.

Prosecutors believe that former special counsel Park is one of several individuals in the so-called "5 billion won" club of people who were each promised 5 billion won by asset management company Hwacheon Daeyu.

Park rose to prominence after being appointed as the special counsel leading the investigation into the corruption case involving former President Park Geun-hye in 2017.

The Daejang-dong development scandal has attracted attention because the project was launched during Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung's tenure as the mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi, where the land is located.

The Seoul Central District Court also denied an arrest warrant for Yang in a separate ruling Friday, also citing the right to defense and noting there is little concern that he would destroy evidence or try to flee.

Thus, the prosecution's plan to speed along the investigation into the so-called "5 billion won club" allegations faces a setback.

Prosecutors, who had shown confidence in proving the allegations, objected to the court's judgment Friday, saying it was "difficult to understand," and announced their plans to pursue another warrant request.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]