Son Hyo-sook, CEO of Reboxchool, attends a hearing as a witness at the National Assembly's Education Committee in Yeouido, Seoul on the 10th, answering questions from lawmakers. Yonhap News. 

Son Hyo-sook, CEO of the conservative group 'Reboxchool,' accused of manipulating public opinion ahead of a presidential election, narrowly escaped arrest on the 19th.

Park Jeong-ho, chief judge of the Seoul Central District Court's warrant division, reviewed the suspect's interrogation prior to arrest (warrant examination) for CEO Son and dismissed the arrest warrant in the early hours of the day.

Chief Judge Park stated, "There is insufficient evidence to support grounds for arrest, such as the risk of flight or destruction of evidence."

CEO Son is accused of operating a public opinion manipulation team called 'Jasongun' (a fictional army of freedom-loving fingers who save the nation through comments) ahead of the 21st presidential election in May.

There are also allegations that participants were hired as instructors for the 'Neulbom School' program after posting comments denigrating Lee Jae-myung, who was then a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea.

'Reboxchool' is an abbreviation for 'Rhee Syngman-Park Chung-hee School'.

During the arrest review, the police emphasized the necessity of detention, citing the severity of CEO Son's alleged crimes, circumstances suggesting destruction of evidence such as ordering the closure of chat rooms related to the allegations, and the impending expiration of the election law statute of limitations.

However, CEO Son's side reportedly denied the charges entirely, claiming that their activities were legitimate political actions, not public opinion manipulation, and that the Neulbom School instructor recruitment was unrelated.

The police plan to review the court's reasons for dismissing the warrant and will consider whether to reapply for it.

CEO Son is also under police investigation for allegations that the Presidential Office exerted pressure on the Ministry of Education to assist in the Neulbom School public bidding project for a Reboxchool-affiliated organization.

Yonhap News