A former lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party denied his alleged implication in a money-for-nomination scandal prior to April's parliamentary election, after being questioned by prosecutors for about 16 hours until dawn on Wednesday.
Hyun Ki-hwan, then a member of the Saenuri Party's committee responsible for nominating proportional candidates, is suspected of receiving around 300 million won ($264,700) in bribes from Rep. Hyun Young-hee in return for securing her a spot on the proportional representation ticket.
Emerging from the Busan District Prosecutors' Office in the southeastern city around 1:50 a.m., Hyun told reporters that he "had provided enough explanation to the prosecution and the truth will soon be uncovered."
Meanwhile, prosecutors are having difficulty in the investigation as they have not found any conclusive evidence that the money had been delivered to Hyun, according to a prosecution official close to the investigation.
"At the moment, prosecutors do not have any plan to request another summons for Hyun," the official added.
Later on Wednesday, prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for Rep. Hyun.
In a related development, a former official of the ruling party believed to have served as a middleman in the alleged bribe transaction, has changed his testimony, according to prosecutors.
Cho Ki-moon previously claimed he received only 5 million won from Rep. Hyun to cover his expenses during a Seoul trip aimed at collecting information on the nomination process.
But Cho has slightly changed his confession, insisting that he received several tens of millions of won from Rep. Hyun, but returned it back to her. (Yonhap)