SEOUL -- Police on Sunday raided a villa east of Seoul that allegedly served as the site of parties in a snowballing sex bribery scandal.
Police said about a dozen investigators raided the villa in Wonju, about 130 kilometers east of Seoul, around noon. They have accused the villa's owner, a construction contractor surnamed Yoon, of inviting high-ranking government officials to sex parties there.
Police believe Yoon might have been seeking business favors by giving officials sex services.
Police also suspect illegal substances may have been used by those who frequented the estate.
Police collected evidence and fingerprints from each of the six units at the villa to determine officials who have visited the site. Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-eui was forced to quit earlier this month over his alleged involvement, and several other public figures have also been linked to the scandal. Kim has maintained his innocence.
A businesswoman blew the whistle on the sex parties by submitting a short video clip showing a man engaged in sexual acts with a woman. Investigators on Sunday tried to determine if the video footage was shot in the Wonju villa.
The businesswoman had allegedly testified that Kim Hak-eui was the man in the blurry clip, but the National Forensic Service said it couldn't categorically reach the same conclusion.
Police have banned several figures implicated in the case, including Yoon and a person who allegedly supplied Yoon with illegal drugs, from leaving the country. Prosecutors, though, recently rejected a police request to impose the same travel ban on Kim Hak-eui, on the grounds that police failed to provide
legitimate steps for the move and didn't have sufficient evidence against Kim. (Yonhap News)
