South Korea's former spy chief was today detained over allegations that he accepted bribes from a construction company in return for peddling influence, a report said.
Won Sei-Hoon, the former director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), was held after a court issued an arrest warrant requested by prosecutors, Yonhap news agency reported.
The 62-year-old is suspected of having received some 150 million won (USD 132,000) in cash and expensive gifts from Hwang Bo-Yeon, the head of now-bankrupt Hwangbo Construction, it said.
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Won, who served as the country's spy chief under former President Lee Myung-Bak, is on trial on separate charges of meddling in last year's presidential election.
Won denied the charges, but prosecutors accuse him of breaking a law that bans NIS staff from intervening in politics.
Several days before the presidential election on December 19, allegations that NIS agents were trying to manipulate voters online emerged, sparking a police probe.
Liberal opposition candidate Moon was defeated in the election by conservative Park Geun-Hye.