'Son Tae-seung, accused of unfair loans, detention warrant rejected again... "Right to defense guaranteed"'

Court: "Room to Dispute Conspiracy in the Crime"

The arrest warrant for Son Tae-seung, former chairman of Woori Financial Group, who is suspected of involvement in improper loans worth hundreds of billions of won to relatives, was rejected again.

Han Jeong-seok, the warrant judge at the Seoul Southern District Court, dismissed the arrest warrant for Son, who is accused of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, after a detention hearing on the afternoon of the 12th.

Former Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung, who is suspected of improper loans to relatives, appeared in court on the 26th of last month at the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, to attend a pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant review) related to charges of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. Photo by Jo Yong-jun

Judge Han stated, "Even based on the supplemented evidence, there is room to dispute that the suspect conspired in the crime," and added, "It is necessary to guarantee the suspect's right to defense."

Previously, the prosecution requested an arrest warrant for former Chairman Son on the 22nd of last month, but it was dismissed after the detention hearing on the 26th. Subsequently, the prosecution conducted supplementary investigations, including re-summoning Son on the 6th of this month, and re-requested the arrest warrant on the 9th, but once again failed to overcome the court's decision.

The prosecution suspects that from April 2020 to January of this year, Son was involved in improper loans amounting to 45 billion won approved for corporations and individual business owners related to his relatives. In particular, it is believed that Son's influence affected Woori Bank's failure to verify the authenticity of loan documents or properly evaluate collateral and guarantees.