A Seoul court has accepted prosecutors' request for a warrant to arrest an official of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) on charges of receiving kickbacks from a party nominee hopeful in return for help in next month's parliamentary elections.
The Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday issued the arrest warrant for Shim Sang-dae, a close aide of DUP chairwoman Han Myeong-sook, on suspicion that he took 110 million won (US$96,660) from the preliminary candidate, surnamed Park, in exchange for his help to win the party's nomination ahead of the April general elections.
"The prosecutors' explanation for (Shim's) criminal charges is sufficient," said Judge Lee Jyeong-suk, explaining the reason for issuing the warrant. "There is a concern that (he) might destroy evidence."
Prosecutors have launched an investigation after a local weekly reported in the middle of March that Shim demanded the money from Park between October and February while chairwoman Han was on trial on bribery charges.
Park made allegations that Shim had offered to help in the nomination process, saying Han was likely to be elected party leader if she was cleared of the charges, the magazine added.
Han was elected chairwoman in January after being cleared of her charges.
Also, Park eventually won a party ticket to run in the parliamentary race and was questioned by prosecutors last Tuesday regarding his reported claims against Shim.
On Thursday, the prosecutors raided Shim's home as part of the investigation, which started at the request of a provincial election watchdog following the media report.
Han, a former prime minister under late President Roh Moo-hyun, has twice been charged with receiving bribes from local businessmen on separate occasions. The 68-year-old was cleared of bribery charges in both cases and now awaits the top court's final verdict.
Meanwhile, the prosecutors have summoned a man, only known by his surname Kim, on suspicion of receiving 10 million from Park.
Kim served as secretary of Han when she was prime minister. (Yonhap News)
