The prosecution's request for an arrest warrant for Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman known as 'Geonjin Beopsa,' who is suspected of receiving illegal political funds, was dismissed on the 19th.
Han Jeong-seok, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Southern District Court, dismissed the warrant after conducting a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant substantive examination) for Jeon, who is accused of receiving a large sum of money in exchange for nomination during the 2018 local elections. Judge Han stated the reason for dismissing the warrant, saying, "The date, amount, and method of the money (funds) received by the suspect are not clearly confirmed," and "If the suspect had actually delivered the funds to the political circle as the prosecutor suspects, the nature of the suspect's crime could be viewed differently." He added, "We also considered that the suspect stated he would sincerely respond to the investigative agency's summons."
Shaman 'Geonjinbeopsa' Jeon Seong-bae, accused of violating the Political Funds Act, is heading to the courtroom after appearing at the pre-arrest hearing at the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the 19th. He avoided detention as a result of the hearing. Photo by Yonhap News
The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office arrested Jeon on the 17th and has been investigating him on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Act by receiving over 100 million won in illegal political funds from a candidate who ran in the internal primary of the Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of the People Power Party, ahead of the 2018 Yeongcheon mayoral election in Gyeongsangbuk-do. It is known that the prosecution received testimonies from related parties indicating that Jeon received money by leveraging his acquaintance with Yoon Han-hong, a member of the People Power Party. At that time, Yoon was the deputy head of organization for the Liberty Korea Party. Regarding this, Yoon has completely denied any connection. Jeon is reported to claim that the money was for 'prayer fees' and that he returned the money after the candidate lost.
The prosecution searched Jeon's residence in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and his temple in Gangnam-gu, seizing three mobile phones and a tablet PC for analysis. Jeon was active in Yoon Seok-yeol's presidential campaign in 2022 and was suspected of flaunting his acquaintance with the presidential couple and interfering in business interests. He is also known to have served as an advisor at Kobana Contents, operated by First Lady Kim Kun-hee. The prosecution plans to carefully review the reasons for the warrant dismissal and decide whether to reapply after supplementary investigation.
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