COURT REVIEWS KWAK SANG-DO’S ARREST

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Turning to the latest on the Daejangdong land development scandal... A local court has started to review the arrest warrant request for former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do who is wanted for suspected bribery. Kwak has been denying the allegation that his son’s severance pay from asset management firm Hwacheondaeyu was a bribe. The court is expected to make a decision as early as tonight.

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The review of the arrest warrant for former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do took place at the Seoul Central District Court at 10:30 this morning. Kwak is the first person from the so-called “five-billion club” for whom the prosecution had requested an arrest warrant. The prosecution concluded that the former People Power Party representative helped form the Hana Bank consortium with Hwacheondaeyu as a member and in return received 2.5 billion won through his son. Hwacheondaeyu had paid Kwak’s son five billion won in severance pay, but the prosecution documented 2.5 billion won as the actual amount he had received, excluding taxes and bonus. Prosecutors believe that Kwak, at the proposal from Kim Man-bae, asked Hana Financial Group CEO Kim Jung-tai to keep the project going. This is why the prosecution charged him with accepting a bribe for mediation under the Aggravated Punishment for Specific Economic Crimes Act.
In response to the prosecution’s request for his arrest warrant, Kwak said that the warrant fails to indicate specifically who had requested him to do what to whom. He also vowed to clear his name at the court. Meanwhile, the prosecution claimed that concrete evidence pertaining to the charge will be presented at the arrest warrant review. As Kwak’s lawyers categorically deny all charges, a heated debate is likely to take place at the review. The court is expected to make its decision tonight at the earliest.