President’s Friend Avoids Detention

Chun Shin-il CEO of SejoongnamoBy Park Si-soo Staff Reporter A court rejected a prosecution request made Tuesday for an arrest warrant for Chun Shin-il, CEO of Sejoongnam Tour and a close friend of President Lee Myung-bak. Chun has been accused of bribery and tax evasion between 2006 and 2007. Judge Kim Hyung-doo at the Seoul Central District Court, rejected the request at 10:30 p.m. after questioning Chun over the corruption allegations surrounding him. Chun has been accused of pressuring tax authorities to suspend an audit into Park Yeon-cha, the indicted CEO of shoemaker Taekwang, last year in return for monetary benefits worth about 700 million won ($560,000). He is also suspected of evading some 10 billion won in taxes by illegally handing over part of a stake in his company to his three children in April 2006 with the help of Park. Meanwhile, the opposition Democratic Party (DP) filed a suit against senior prosecutors for making public unconfirmed information and allegations they uncovered during the investigation of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun. The party said it had filed the suit with the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office against senior prosecutors, including Lee In-gyu, head of a central investigation unit of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Hong Man-pyo and Woo Byeong-woo. It said in a complaint that they intentionally leaked information they found during the investigation to the media before Roh was officially prosecuted, which is illegal. ``Roh denied all bribery allegations surrounding him. But they snubbed them and kept releasing one　-sided information to the media to corner him,'' it said. ``They even gave daily press briefings on the progress of their investigation.'' Under the law, those leaking investigation information before a suspect stands trial can face up to three years in prison or have their license suspended for up to five years. ``They should have announced information confirmed by both sides. They have to play by the rules and meet people's right to know in a sound way,'' said Kim Yoo-jung, DP spokesman. ``They also didn't respect Roh's right to be treated the same as an innocent person until indicted.'' pss@koreatimes.co.kr