Arrest warrant sought for S.Korea culture minister www.nhk.or.jp
A special prosecutor's team in South Korea has requested an arrest warrant for Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun. She is suspected of abusing her power.
Cho is alleged to have helped create a blacklist of over 9,400 cultural figures considered critical of the administration of the country's disgraced president. Park Geun-hye is embroiled in an influence-peddling scandal.
The special prosecutor's team suspects the figures on the list were denied government support.
They asked a court in Seoul on Wednesday to issue arrest warrants for Cho and a former presidential chief of staff.
The court is to consider whether to approve the warrants, which include the first request to arrest a current minister in connection with Park's scandal.
Cho's predecessor, former culture minister Kim Jong-deok, was arrested last week on suspicion of abuse of power as part of the creation of the list.
Observers say attention is increasingly shifting to whether Park herself was involved in making the list.
Published Date:2017-01-19