Court reviews arrest warrants for Myung Tae-kyun and Kim Young-sun

[Anchor]

The examination of the arrest warrants for Myung Tae-kyun and former lawmaker Kim Young-sun is currently underway.

It is expected that the decision on their arrest will be made late tonight (Nov.14).

We connect to reporter Lee Hyung-kwan in Changwon.

Reporter Lee! The questioning of the two has been completed, right?

[Report]

Yes, that’s correct.

The pre-arrest questioning started at 2 PM today.

About an hour ago, around 7:50 PM, the questioning of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun and Mr. Myung Tae-kyun, along with two others, has concluded.

It took longer than initially expected.

Mr. Myung did not say anything upon his arrival.

After the questioning, he also left the court without answering any questions.

[Myung Tae-kyun: "What part did you focus on today? Please say a word."]

Earlier, the prosecution requested arrest warrants for Mr. Bae and Mr. Lee, who were preliminary candidates in the 2022 local elections, as well as for former lawmaker Kim and Mr. Myung.

The prosecution views the 76 million won exchanged between Mr. Myung and former lawmaker Kim as a 'reward for helping with nominations.'

Additionally, they consider the two as accomplices in what is referred to as 'nomination trading,' where money was taken from the two preliminary candidates.

The prosecution believes that an arrest investigation is necessary due to a significant risk of evidence destruction.

In particular, traces have been found on a recovered computer showing that Mr. Myung opened a file titled 'Recording with the President,' but the file is reported to be missing, indicating a high possibility of destroying other evidence.

Mr. Myung and former lawmaker Kim maintain that they exchanged borrowed money and that there was no 'nomination trading.'

Mr. Myung's legal team submitted a 20-page opinion document, and former lawmaker Kim stated that the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant is politically motivated.

If the two are arrested, it is expected that the investigation will gain momentum regarding whether Mr. Myung actually influenced the nominations and who assisted him in the process.

The results regarding their arrest are expected to be announced late tonight or early tomorrow (Nov.15).

This has been KBS News' Lee Hyung-kwan from the Changwon District Court.