Police Send Former Dongdaemun District Mayor Yu Deok-yeol to Prosecution Without Detention on Bribery Charges

by Choi Seoyoon

Published 03 Apr.2023 18:34(KST)

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit announced on the 3rd that they had sent former Dongdaemun District Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol to prosecution without detention on the 29th of last month on charges including accepting money and valuables in exchange for promotions.

Former Mayor Yoo is accused of receiving at least 50 million won in money and valuables from employees through his chief secretary in exchange for promotion personnel decisions while serving as district mayor. He is also suspected of embezzling public funds, including about 100 million won from the district office's business promotion expenses, for personal use.

The police applied for an arrest warrant for former Mayor Yoo three times, but it was rejected or dismissed at the prosecution and court stages.

After completing the pre-trial detention hearing on the 9th of last month, former Mayor Yoo denied the charges, responding to reporters' questions about whether he admitted to bribery by saying, "I cannot admit it. There is absolutely no such fact."

Former Mayor Yoo served as Dongdaemun District Mayor from 1998 to 2002 and was consecutively elected three times in the local elections of 2010, 2014, and 2018.

Yoo Deok-yeol, former mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul