Prosecutors seek arrest warrant for ex-justice minister

Cho Kuk / Korea Times file

State prosecutors on Monday requested the detention of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk following questionings related to his possible role in ending a presidential inquiry into bribery allegations involving a former Busan vice mayor.

The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors Office said it has filed for a preliminary warrant to detain Cho, who also served as presidential secretary of civil affairs before taking on the ministerial post, on charges of abuse of authority.

The Seoul Eastern District Court is set to begin the warrant review Thursday morning.

Prosecutors earlier called in Cho over two times to question him for their probe into former Busan Vice Mayor Yoo Jae-soo who was recently indicted for allegedly accepting bribes worth 49.5 million won (US$42,606) during his term at the state financial regulator.

While Yoo was under surveillance by Cheong Wa Dae's special inspection team in 2017, supervised by then-civil affairs office chief Cho, he avoided punishment for an unknown reason and became Busan's vice mayor in 2018.

The string of developments raised suspicions that some Cheong Wa Dae officials may have engaged in a cover-up of the bribery case.

Following the first questioning in mid-December, Cho claimed through his attorneys that "the ultimate political responsibility is on me," adding that he had faithfully attended the session.

Cho is known to have testified that the presidential inquiry, which is different from a jurisdictional probe, showed that Yoo's bribery allegations were minor and that the inquiry was closed upon deliberation with Baek Won-woo, former presidential secretary for civil affairs, and Park Hyeong-chul, presidential secretary for anti-corruption.

Earlier this month, prosecutors executed a court-issued search warrant at Cheong Wa Dae in connection with the bribery case. (Yonhap)