Kim Man-bae of 'Daejang-dong' Avoiding Additional Detention, to Be Released After Midnight Tonight

The court has decided not to issue an additional arrest warrant for Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management.

Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, indicted on bribery charges Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

On the afternoon of the 6th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 22 (Presiding Judge Lee Jun-cheol) stated, "As a result of the hearing to decide whether to issue a separate arrest warrant for Mr. Kim, it was decided not to issue one." Accordingly, Mr. Kim is expected to be released immediately after passing midnight tonight at the earliest. This is because the detention period of Mr. Kim, who was indicted on March 8 for concealing criminal proceeds from the Daejang-dong case, expires on the 7th.

As Mr. Kim's detention period approached its end, the prosecution requested the court on the 1st to issue an additional arrest warrant on charges including embezzlement and violation of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act. The court can issue an arrest warrant ex officio regarding newly applied charges at the indictment stage.

During the hearing for Mr. Kim's additional arrest warrant, the prosecution emphasized the necessity of additional detention, stating, "Mr. Kim intended to spread false information through the media out of concern that the Daejang-dong investigation would reveal the truth and negatively affect Lee Jae-myung in the presidential election." Furthermore, "He denied Lee Jae-myung's involvement to help conceal the crime and reduce responsibility, and planned to spread false information unfavorable to the opposing candidate who investigated Jo Woo-hyung during the 2011 savings bank corruption investigation."

The prosecution is investigating allegations that on September 15, 2021, Mr. Kim conducted a false interview with Shin Hak-rim, former chairman of the Media Union and a specialist at Newstapa, claiming that "President Yoon Seok-yeol covered up the Jo Woo-hyung case through former special prosecutor Park Young-soo while he was at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Central Investigation Department." Five days later, on September 20, Mr. Kim allegedly paid Shin approximately 160 million won as compensation. The prosecution revealed that Mr. Kim disguised the payment by pretending to have purchased three books from Shin and even created a book sales contract dated March 1, 2021, about six months before the interview date, to conceal the quid pro quo.

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