A Seoul court has refused a prosecution requestion for a warrant to arrest a former environment minister on charges she abused her power by forcing those considered critical of the incumbent administration to step down from their posts.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
Early Tuesday,... the Seoul Eastern District Court ruled that former minister of environment Kim Eun-kyung presented no risk of flight or destroying evidence given her status as a retired public official,... as they denied an arrest warrant request over her alleged abuse of power.
Kim, who was the environment minister from 2017 to 2018,... stands accused of pressuring several heads of public institutions affiliated with the ministry to step down and disadvantaging one of them for not complying with the demand.
The allegations against Kim have drawn attention as some former top officials from the previous Park Geun-hye administration are standing trial on similar power abuse charges.
This includes Kim Ki-choon, Park's former chief of staff, and former Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun,... who were indicted for keeping a 'blacklist' of artists and celebrities to freeze them out of the mainstream media due to their left-leaning tendencies.
The probe into Kim began after a complaint was filed by the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.
It accused the former minister of having sought to replace those appointed under the former conservative administration with appointees of her own choice without going through a due selection process.
The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae is defending the former minister, insisting that decision-making on who should be, or should not be appointed as top officials is well within the power of a minister.
Kim says she'll do her best to explain to the court,... and will wait for the judge's decision,... as she has undergone a closed-door interrogation over the allegations,... which she strongly denies.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.