Son Hyo-sook, CEO of Rebox School, answers questions. Yonhap News photo. 

The arrest warrant for Son Hyo-sook, CEO of the conservative group 'Rebox School,' who is accused of manipulating public opinion through comments ahead of the presidential election, has been dismissed again.

On the afternoon of the 6th, Seoul Central District Court Judge Jeong Jae-wook, in charge of arrest warrants, dismissed the arrest warrant for CEO Son, who is accused of violating the Public Official Election Act, after conducting a suspect interrogation prior to arrest (arrest warrant review).

Judge Jeong stated the reason for dismissal as follows: "Regarding the existing charges, the defendant admits to the overall objective facts and is primarily disputing the evaluative aspects. The defendant admits to the additional charges added after the first request."

He also added, "The contact made with related parties after the first request cannot be seen as affecting the commission of the crime. Considering the evidence secured regarding the charges, the defendant's attendance at the investigation and interrogation proceedings, attitude during testimony, family and social ties, it is difficult to deem that there is a risk of destroying evidence or fleeing in the future."

CEO Son is accused of manipulating public opinion by operating a comment manipulation team called 'Jasonsun-gun' (an army of free fingers saving the nation through comments) ahead of the 21st presidential election in May.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Cyber Investigation Unit, which is investigating this case, sought to secure CEO Son by applying for an arrest warrant for him at the end of last month. Previously, in September, the police had applied for an arrest warrant for CEO Son, but it was dismissed by the court.

'Rebox School' is an abbreviation for 'Lee Seung-man & Park Chung-hee School,' and Newstapa previously reported on the group's alleged manipulation of public opinion through comments.

The police, who searched CEO Son's residence and Rebox School's office, reportedly discovered signs of evidence tampering, such as Son instructing the closure of a KakaoTalk chat room and replacement of PCs, which contained indications of directing comment manipulation.

At the time, the chat room administrator was known to be an official of the Free Democratic Party. The police have also applied for an arrest warrant for Lee Seok-woo, the secretary-general of the Free Democratic Party, on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.

CEO Son is also under investigation by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Anti-Corruption Investigation Unit for charges including obstruction of official duties by deception and fraud, which were referred by the Ministry of Education.

Yonhap News