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Kim Seong-tae, former chairman of Ssangbangwool Group, was arrested early today (20th).

Kim's assistant, who fled abroad, was also arrested by the local police.



Reporter Park Ha-jeong reports.



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The court issued an arrest warrant for former Ssangbangwool Group chairman Kim Seong-tae.



The reason for issuing the warrant was that the charges against former chairman Kim had been clarified and that there was a risk of destroying evidence and escaping.



Yang Seon-gil, chairman of Ssangbangwool Group, for which an arrest warrant was also requested, was also arrested for the same reason.



The court did not open the warrant review, which was scheduled for 2:30 pm yesterday, and reviewed the records received from the prosecution in writing.



This is because former Chairman Kim's side gave up attending court, saying, "I will not be interrogated before arrest in order to faithfully participate in the investigation."



The prosecution requested an arrest warrant for former chairman Kim and included six charges.



Suspicion of sending money to North Korea, suspicion of giving bribes such as a corporate card to former vice-governor of peace in Gyeonggi-do Lee Hwa-young, and suspicion of creating a slush fund by stealing company money, allegations of paying the lawyer's fees for Democratic Party representative Lee Jae-myung are included. didn't



Both former Chairman Kim and CEO Lee are refusing to say, "We have never seen each other's faces," and that it makes no sense to pay for them.



Prosecutors plan to continue further investigations as the former chairman Kim has been secured.



Meanwhile, at the Cambodian border, former chairman Kim's assistant was arrested by the local police with several borrowed cell phones and a bundle of money.



The prosecution plans to speed up the repatriation process for the former head of the Finance and Economy Headquarters, Mr. Kim, and his secretary, who are known to be delaying their return after receiving conciliation from former Chairman Kim.



(Video editing: Choi Eun-jin)