Court Orders Arrest of Former Suwon City Official in Illegal Party Membership Recruitment Case; Warrants Rejected for Other 5 Suspects

Of the six individuals for whom arrest warrants were requested in connection with illegal party membership recruitment allegations involving Mayor Lee Jae-jun of Suwon, an arrest warrant was only issued for former Suwon City official A.

According to the Suwon District Court on the 10th, Judge Kim Hong-seop, presiding judge for warrant matters, issued an arrest warrant for A, who is suspected of violating the Public Official Election Act, citing concerns that he may destroy evidence or attempt to flee.

For the remaining five individuals for whom arrest warrants were requested, the warrants were rejected.

These individuals are suspected of illegally recruiting party members to support Mayor Lee's reelection in the Democratic Party of Korea's primary for Suwon's mayoral candidate ahead of the 9th nationwide local elections held on June 3.

Previously, the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency's Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Division filed a motion for pre-arrest warrants for six individuals including current and former Suwon City officials, and the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office requested arrest warrants from the court on the 5th.

The case began in March when the police received a complaint filed along with a recording containing allegations of illegal party membership recruitment. At that time, Kwon Hyuk-woo, a prospective Democratic Party mayoral candidate for Suwon, also raised allegations of illegal party membership recruitment by those close to Mayor Lee.

In May, police searched the offices and premises of Suwon City's political officials and secured related materials including mobile phones.

On the 7th of the following month, police searched the Democratic Party Gyeonggi Province chapter office, securing digital records including party membership lists and application forms, and analyzed their connection to the illegal party membership recruitment allegations.

On the 18th of the previous month, it was revealed that the mayor was summoned for non-public questioning in the capacity of a person under investigation. However, Mayor Lee was not included as a target of the arrest warrant request.