Arrest Warrant for Oh Keo-don on Sexual Assault Charges Rejected Again: "High Possibility of Criticism, but No Dispute Over Facts" (Update)

Former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The arrest warrant for former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don, who is accused of forcibly sexually harassing his subordinate employees, has been dismissed again.

On the 18th, Kim Kyung-jin, the presiding judge of the Criminal Division 2 at the Busan District Court responsible for warrants, dismissed the pre-arrest warrant requested by the prosecution against former Mayor Oh on charges including forcible sexual harassment. This is the second dismissal following the one in June.

Judge Kim stated the reason for dismissal, saying, "Considering the specific behaviors detailed in the warrant, the possibility of blaming the suspect is high," but added, "There is no significant dispute over the facts, and there is no concern of evidence tampering or flight." He further noted, "Taking into account the victims' statements and substantial physical evidence secured through multiple searches, there appears to be no concern for evidence tampering or flight."

It was also explained that former Mayor Oh's sincere cooperation with the investigative authorities' summons was a reason for dismissal. Accordingly, Oh, who was waiting at Busan Detention Center, was immediately released and went home.

Former Mayor Oh is reported to have admitted most of the charges during the warrant hearing held in the morning. He is accused of forcibly sexually harassing an employee in his office in early April, as well as another sexual harassment case involving a different employee in 2018, and false accusation charges. Regarding the forcible sexual harassment in his office in early April, a warrant was requested once during the police investigation in June, but it was dismissed by the court's judgment at that time, which stated "the suspect admitted the crime, and there is no concern of evidence tampering or flight."

The prosecution received the case from the police on August 25 and secured additional evidence for the sexual harassment charges through searches and other means, then re-requested the warrant.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.