A political banner containing claims of election fraud is displayed on a roadside in Chipyeong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju. [Yonhap News] 

A court has dismissed an arrest warrant for the representative of a patriotic banner organization, whom police had accused of using illegal political funds to produce banners promoting anti-China sentiment and allegations of election fraud.

On the afternoon of the 7th, Judge Kim Ji-hyun of the Seoul Southern District Court, in charge of warrant proceedings, denied the warrant during a pre-arrest interrogation (warrant review) for the suspect, identified by his surname Kim, citing that there was “no risk of destroying evidence or fleeing.”

Earlier, upon arriving at the courthouse at approximately 1:38 p.m. that day, Kim did not respond to questions from reporters asking if he acknowledged the charges of using political funds received through an unreported account to post the banners.

The National Election Commission, which has recently been cited as a "hotbed of corruption," had previously filed a formal complaint with the police against Kim and others last July, strongly alleging that they had received political funds through non-registered accounts to produce banners that incited anti-China sentiment and promoted conspiracy theories regarding election fraud.

Meanwhile, Choi Chang-won, the representative of the minor political party "Tomorrow to Future" (currently the Pro-American Union), who did not appear for the hearing, is scheduled to undergo questioning on the 9th at 10:30 a.m.

Choi was originally scheduled to undergo the warrant review alongside Kim but failed to appear at the court.