Court turns down arrest warrant for President Lee's confidant

SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- A local court rejected Tuesday a prosecution request for the arrest of one of President Lee Myung-bak's close confidants suspected of taking bribes from a businessman and evading taxes.

Chun Shin-il, president of Sejoongnamo Tour Co., is accused of pressing tax
authorities to suspend an audit into Park Yeon-cha, the indicted head of a shoe
manufacturing company, last year in return for about 700 million won
(US$560,000).
Chun is also suspected of evading about 10 billion won in taxes in the process of
handing over company shares to his three children in April 2006 with the help of
Park, thus violating the securities transaction act.
Chun and President Lee are known to be close personal friends who graduated from
the same university in Seoul. Chun is said to have played a key role in Lee's
presidential campaign in 2007.
The investigation into Chun was suspended for more than a week following the
death of former President Roh Moo-hyun on May 23.
Roh committed suicide by jumping off a cliff behind his rural home in southern
South Korea amid a prosecution probe into an allegation that he and his family
had received at least $6 million in bribes before his retirement in February
2008.
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