A court rejected prosecutors' request to detain Jeon Han-gil (56; legal name Jeon Yu-gwan), a YouTuber and former Korean history lecturer who has been investigated by police on suspicion of defaming President Lee Jae-myung and Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok.
Kim Jin-man, a warrant-committed Director General judge at the Seoul Central District Court, held a pretrial detention hearing for Jeon on the 16th and rejected the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant, saying it was hard to see a risk of evidence destruction or flight.
Jeon, who had been waiting in a holding cell at the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul, is set to be released with the warrant denial.
Police plan to decide whether to reapply for Jeon's arrest warrant after additional investigation.
Investigators believe Jeon, since last year, has used YouTube broadcasts and other channels to raise allegations that the president amassed a large slush fund and to float false rumors about the private life of Kim Hyeon-ji, the presidential office's first personal secretary. He is also accused of suggesting that Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok's record of a double major in economics at Harvard University in the United States is false.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Violent Crime Investigation Unit summoned Jeon three times starting on the 16th and then sought an arrest warrant. Police determined that Jeon earned revenue of 32.6 million won from six videos at issue. Prosecutors, after a separate in-person inquiry, also said the dissemination of false information was repeated and there was a risk of recidivism, and on the 14th they requested a warrant from the court.
Even after being booked following complaints and accusations from the Democratic Party and others, Jeon raised a claim that 900,000 barrels of Ulsan oil flowed into North Korea, leading to an additional accusation by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.