A member of a minor opposition party was arrested Thursday for making false allegations about President Moon Jae-in's son during the election campaign earlier this year.
A Seoul court approved the prosecution's request for the arrest warrant for Lee You-mi, a member of the People's Party, on charges of spreading misinformation in violation of the election law.
Lee is accused of fabricating a story in the lead up to the May 9 presidential election about an unfair hiring of Moon Joon-yong by a public agency in late 2006, when his father was a presidential secretary.
She had been held in custody for questioning by the prosecution since early this week.
Lee reportedly confessed to creating the anonymous tip-off by concocting an audio file and a captured screenshot of mobile phone chat disguising them as records of conversation with a man claiming to be a friend of Joon-yong's exposing the alleged preferred treatment.
Lee handed them to a former senior party official named Lee Jun-seo. The prosecution has barred the official from overseas travel on suspicions that he is behind the smearing scheme. The prosecution is set to summon him for questioning this week.
Lee You-mi reportedly stated she didn't act alone. The People's Party and Lee Jun-seo have insisted that they had no knowledge of the scheme.
The intensifying scrutiny is putting pressure on the party's former leader and then Moon's rival Ahn Cheol-soo to clarify his stance. He is yet to make any official statement.
(Yonhap)
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