Warrant issued for senior prosecutor over bribe

SEOUL, July 15 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors on Friday issued a warrant against a senior prosecutor on charges of taking a bribe from the country's leading online game maker, which has put him under public scrutiny.

Jin Kyung-joon is charged with amassing massive assets through shady stock transactions involving Nexon Co.

The case involving Jin came to light early this year as the senior prosecutor reported a whopping increase in his personal wealth in 2015. All ranking government officials and lawmakers are required to annually disclose changes in their personal wealth.

Nexon allegedly lent some 400 million won (US$348,000) to Jin in 2005, helping the senior prosecutor to amass some 12 billion won of profits through stock transactions by 2015.

An ad hoc team investigating the case has been widening their probe, raiding Jin's house as well as the home and offices of Kim Jung-ju, founder of Nexon and incumbent chairman of its holding firm NXC Corp.

The latest series of actions came within a week of the country's top prosecutor Kim Soo-nam launching an independent team to thoroughly investigate the case.

The special team can investigate without supervision, having only to report its results to the prosecutor general.

Jin offered to quit in April when the allegations arose, but the justice ministry has not accepted the resignation.

sam@yna.co.kr
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