Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, who led the conservative People Power Party until June, has been arrested early Wednesday for illicitly receiving political funds from an official of the Unification Church who allegedly solicited support for a project in January 2022.
The court, in its decision to issue the detention warrant, cited Kweon's chances of destroying evidence.
Kweon, a five-term lawmaker and PPP's former floor leader, became the first lawmaker placed under arrest since the launch of the 22nd National Assembly in May 2024. Since South Korea's democratization in 1987, nine incumbent lawmakers, including Kweon, have been arrested.
The decision followed a review for a warrant that lasted for about 4 1/2 hours. Entering the warrant review, Kweon claimed innocence by saying that the special counsel had only been serving the interests of political power.
The special counsel has been looking into broad corruption allegations concerning Kim Keon Hee, the wife of disgraced ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol. The counsel applied for a warrant to arrest Kweon on Aug. 28. The National Assembly on Sept. 11 approved the special counsel's request to nullify Kweon's immunity from arrest as a sitting lawmaker in a 173-1 vote with one abstention and two invalid votes among the National Assembly's 300 seats.
Kweon is accused of illicitly receiving 100 million won ($72,000) from an official of the Unification Church during the campaign period ahead of the 2022 presidential election, with the intention to ask that then-conservative candidate Yoon serve the church's interests.
Aside from other illegal political fund allegations, the special counsel also suspects that Unification Church members had joined the People Power Party's ranks to bolster Kweon's power and influence in the party, in a move led by a church official and Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman who has also been accused as a middleperson in handing over a luxury gift from the Unification Church to ex-first lady Kim.
At the Sept. 11 parliamentary vote, Kweon, along with the 172 other lawmakers, voted in favor of the National Assembly lifting his immunity from arrest, but denied any wrongdoing.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
