Kim Man-bae Avoids Additional Detention, to Be Released After Midnight Tonight (Comprehensive)

The court 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 6th, the Criminal Division 22 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jun-cheol) stated, "As a result of the hearing to decide whether to issue a separate arrest warrant for Kim, it was decided not to issue one." Kim, who was arrested and indicted on March 8 on charges of concealing criminal proceeds from the Daejang-dong case, will have his detention period expire in seven days. Kim is expected to be released immediately from the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang City shortly after midnight tonight at the earliest.

Earlier, as Kim's detention period was nearing expiration, the prosecution requested the court on the 1st of this month to issue an additional arrest warrant on charges including embezzlement and violation of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act. The prosecution pointed out Kim's recently surfaced so-called 'false interview' allegations and emphasized the necessity of additional detention due to a high risk of evidence tampering. The court can issue an arrest warrant ex officio regarding newly applied charges at the indictment stage.

This is the second time Kim has been detained and then released in connection with the Daejang-dong case. Kim was arrested and indicted in November 2021 on charges including breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and was released last November due to the expiration of the detention period. After his release, he caused disruptions to the trial schedule by self-harming and being taken to the emergency room. Kim was re-arrested in February on charges including concealing criminal proceeds obtained from the Daejang-dong project. He was indicted in March on the charges applied in the arrest warrant at that time and is currently undergoing trial in another division (Criminal Division 1) of the same court.

On this day, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office commented on the court's decision, saying, "Serious evidence tampering has already been committed in various ways, and considering the significant risk of further evidence tampering, the court's decision is difficult to accept." They added, "We will make every effort to maintain the prosecution going forward and do our best to uncover the substantive truth in the ongoing investigation of important cases."

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