Kim, a police superintendent accused of accepting a large bribe in exchange for covering up an investigation (bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes), will avoid detention.
On the 7th, Yoo Chang-hoon, the presiding judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, dismissed the arrest warrant for Superintendent Kim.
Judge Yoo stated, "Although most of the facts regarding the suspect's acceptance of money and valuables appear to be proven, there remains room for dispute as to whether the money in question constitutes a bribe under the main charge of mediation, based on relevant legal principles," adding, "It is difficult to recognize the appropriateness of detention."
Superintendent Kim is accused of receiving hundreds of millions of won in money and valuables from a small and medium-sized enterprise from 2020 until recently, in exchange for requests related to investigations.
Previously, the court also dismissed the first substantive hearing for Superintendent Kim's arrest warrant. The court stated, "It is acknowledged that the suspect received a large economic benefit, and as a high-ranking official, it is quite possible that the suspect could exert influence over the police officers handling the case in the future," but added, "The connection between the economic benefits received by the suspect and the mediation related to other officials' duties is not clear, and there is a lack of objective evidence to recognize that the suspect engaged in mediation in specific cases."
With this dismissal of the warrant, the Corruption Investigation Office has faced five rejections of arrest warrants.
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