Court Rejects Arrest Warrant for Former Dongdaemun District Mayor Yu Deok-yeol on Bribery Charges

Law "Consideration of Necessity for Housing Schedule and Guarantee of Right to Defense"

The arrest warrant for Yoo Deok-yeol, former mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, who is accused of accepting bribes in exchange for promotions, has been dismissed.

On the 9th, Yoon Jae-nam, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, dismissed the arrest warrant after the warrant review hearing, stating, "At this stage, there is insufficient evidence to justify the necessity and appropriateness of detention."

Judge Yoon explained, "Considering that the suspect has a fixed residence and has pledged to cooperate sincerely with the investigation going forward, as well as various circumstances revealed during the records and hearing process, the need to guarantee the right to defense was taken into account."

Earlier, the Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency applied for Yoo's arrest warrant on the 24th of last month, and the prosecution requested the warrant on the 6th.

According to the police, former mayor Yoo is suspected of receiving several tens of millions of won worth of money and goods from employees in exchange for promotion personnel matters and misusing public funds such as business promotion expenses for personal purposes. The police applied charges of bribery followed by unfair acts, abuse of authority, embezzlement, and violation of the Local Public Officials Act against Yoo.

Yoo served as mayor of Dongdaemun-gu from 1998 to 2002 and was re-elected three consecutive times in the local elections of 2010, 2014, and 2018.

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