(LEAD) Court issues arrest warrant for former PM

(ATTN: UPDATES with reactions and more details in last 5 paras)
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Yonhap) -- A local court on Wednesday issued a warrant for the
arrest of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, who is suspected of receiving a
large sum of money from a corrupt business executive, prosecution officials said.

The arrest warrant comes as Han has repeatedly refused to appear before
prosecutors to face questioning about an allegation that she received US$50,000
from Kwak Young-wook, a former CEO of Korea Express, while serving as prime
minister in 2007.
The 65-year-old Han, who served as prime minister under the Roh Moo-hyun
administration from April 2006 to March 2007, is now a senior adviser to the main
opposition Democratic Party (DP).
Han has defied prosecutors' summons, arguing the investigation is politically
motivated and illegal. The allegation, first reported by a local newspaper last
week, accuses Han of helping Kwak move to the top post of a state-owned
corporation in 2007 in return for the dollars. Kwak is now under arrest on
embezzlement charges.
"Investigators have secured Kwak's confession and relevant statements from others
regarding the circumstances leading to the payment of the bribe to Han. But they
still need to question her for a fair exercise of the investigation right, as
well as for her right to defend herself," said a prosecutor at the Seoul Central
District Prosecutors' Office.
As expected, the DP and Han's supporters expressed resentment over the arrest
warrant.
"Prosecutors have abused their authority by seeking an arrest warrant without any
reliable evidence," Yang Jeong-chul, a spokesman for Han, said.
DP spokesman Woo Sang-ho also criticized prosecutors, saying, "It's an outrageous
political conspiracy. (The prosecutors) are trying to attain their goals by
giving an insult to former Prime Minister Han."
Political watchers agreed that the arrest warrant is expected to put enormous
pressure on Han to respond to the prosecutors' summons. They also forecast that
prosecutors are unlikely to forcefully enforce the arrest warrant against Han in
consideration of a political backlash.
Prosecutors may instead opt to indict Han without physical detention before
attempting to prove her guilt in court trials, said the watchers.
(END)