Decision on Kwon Seong-dong's Special Prosecutor Arrest Expected Today... Warrant Review in the Afternoon

[Financial News]  The arrest of Kwon Seong-dong, a member of the People Power Party, identified as the starting point of the 'religious-political collusion' between the Yoon Seok-yeol government and the Unification Church, is expected to be decided as early as the 16th.

The Seoul Central District Court's Judge Nam Se-jin, who is in charge of warrants, will hold a pre-arrest interrogation (warrant review) for Kwon, who is charged with violating the Political Funds Act, at 2 PM today.

Although the timing of the review is flexible, results typically come out late in the afternoon or early the next morning on the day the warrant review is held.

Kwon is accused of receiving 100 million won in exchange for providing votes, organization, and finances from Unification Church members in the 20th presidential election from Yoon Mo (indicted in custody), the global head of the Unification Church, in January 2022, with a request to promote Unification Church issues as national policy after Yoon's election as president.

There are also suspicions that in February-March 2022, Kwon received a shopping bag containing cash from Han Hak-ja, the president of the Unification Church, and leaked police investigation information on Han's overseas gambling to the Unification Church to prepare for the investigation.

The special prosecutor team emphasized in the arrest consent request for Kwon that "the collusion between political power and religious groups, which disrupted the governance of the Republic of Korea, interfered in elections, and disturbed the judicial order, all began with the illegal political funds received by the suspect, who violated his duty of integrity as a member of the National Assembly."

The special prosecutor team requested an arrest warrant for Kwon on the 28th of last month, and the arrest consent request sent to the special prosecutor team by the court was reported to the National Assembly after being approved by the president through the Ministry of Justice.

The National Assembly passed the arrest consent motion in a plenary session on the 11th.

Kwon has consistently denied the charges. In a personal statement before the National Assembly's vote on the arrest consent motion, he claimed, "All the allegations raised by the special prosecutor against me are false."theknight@fnnews.com Jeong Kyung-soo Reporter