S.Korean minister, aide held over alleged blacklist

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - South Korean Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun and ex-presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon were detained Friday over allegedly drawing up a cultural blacklist targeting thousands of artists deemed critical of the president.

The pair are being held pending a decision by a local court over whether to arrest them.

Seoul Central District Court is expected to deliberate late into the night, just as it did earlier this week before releasing Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong – an outcome that appears to have weakened wide-ranging claims of power abuse made against President Park Geun-hye and a number of former aides.

Park was impeached last month nearly four years into a five-year term.

While Kim denies knowledge of any blacklist, Cho has conceded that she was made aware of it last year.

The culture minister is the scandal’s most senior figure to face an arrest warrant request, with Park protected by her position for now as the Constitutional Court has yet to rule on her impeachment.

The blacklist’s alleged purpose was to withhold support for perceived dissenters, including star names like award-winning author Han Kang and film director Park Chan-wook.