ROK prosecutors seek arrest warrant for ex-senior aide for president

SEOUL -- Prosecutors of?the?Republic of Korea (ROK)?on Wednesday sought arrest warrant for former senior aide to President Moon Jae-in over bribery allegations, according to local media reports.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office requested a warrant to detain Jun Byung-hun, former senior presidential secretary for political affairs who resigned last week amid rising allegations that he was involved in a bribery scandal.

The charges levied on Jun included taking bribes and embezzlement. The former presidential aide was questioned by prosecutors on Monday. Jun reportedly denied all allegations during the questioning.

It marked the first time that prosecutors requested a warrant to detain any senior secretary of President Moon, who took office in May.

Jun was suspected of inducing Lotte Homshopping, ROK's retail giant, to donate 330 million won (around $270,000) in July 2015 to the Korea e-Sports Association, in which Jun served as its chairman at the time.

Shortly after the donation, the retailer renewed its business license for home shopping channel by three more years.

At the time, Jun was a lawmaker who served on the future planning, broadcasting and communications committee of the National Assembly, having influence over the license renewal for home shopping channels.

Jun's two former aides were detained for embezzlement charge as they were suspected of embezzling 110 million won ($101,000) of the total donation.