SEOUL: South Korean prosecutors arrested the culture minister on Saturday for suspected involvement in drawing up a blacklist of artists, writers and entertainers critical of President Park Geun-hye amid a graft scandal that led to her impeachment.

Cho Yoon-sun became the first sitting minister ever to be arrested, the special prosecutor’s team, investigating the scandal, said.

The country has gripped by crisis for months, and Park could become the first democratically elected leader to be removed from office if her impeachment by parliament is upheld by the Constitutional Court.

Seoul District Court said on Saturday in a text message to reporters that minister Cho was arrested because her crime had been “verified and there were concerns over destruction of evidence”.

The special prosecutor’s office on Wednesday asked the court to issue warrants to arrest Cho and a former presidential chief of staff on suspicion of abuse of power and perjury. The former chief of staff, Kim Ki-choon, was also arrested.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2017