Court denies arrest warrant for Chong Kun Dang heir

By Bahk Eun-ji

The Seoul Central District court denied a request for a warrant to arrest the eldest son of Chong Kun Dang Holdings, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, who is accused of filming and distributing sex videos through his social media accounts, Friday.

The court said arresting the eldest son, identified by his surname Lee, 33, would not be necessary at this stage of the investigation.

The Seoul Central District court dismissed a request for a warrant to arrest the eldest son of Chong Kun Dang Holdings, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, accused of filming and distributing sex videos through his social media accounts, Friday. /Korea Times file

“In addition, victims didn't want him to be punished,” said Judge Choi Chang-hoon of the Seoul Central District Court as he denied the arrest warrant request.

The suspect closed his account on Twitter where he uploaded the video clips.

According to Seoul Hyehwa Police Station, Lee has recently been accused of violating the Special Act on Crimes of Sexual Violence, by sharing on Twitter secretly recorded videos of him having sex with different women. It was reported that the three victims agreed to have sex, but didn't agree to the filming and distribution of the videos.

Police said the investigation will continue despite the arrest warrant dismissal.

The court's decision is drawing public criticism over the judiciary's lack of sensitivity in handling crimes against women, as the country is still reeling from recent revelations that a number of Telegram chat rooms were used to share videos of sexually exploited women and underage girls.

The prime suspect in that case, Cho Ju-bin, 24, was arrested for allegedly blackmailing women into making exploitative and sometimes violent sexual videos, which were then shared in chat rooms that members had to pay to access. At least 103 women, including 26 minors, were allegedly coerced by Cho's threats, the police said. It has been reported that they were consistently threatened to ensure they continued to photograph or film themselves performing sexual and inhumane acts.

A special investigation team of the National Police Agency (NPA) said that it has detained two of Cho's three accomplices and is tracking down another suspect. The three are accused of having jointly managed the chat room, the NPA team said, adding it will consider requesting arrest warrants for the two detainees.

Following President Moon Jae-in's order for a thorough investigation into such digital sex crimes, police have been expanding their investigations into other illicit Telegram chat rooms.