Arrest warrant sought for leading environmentalist on embezzlement charges

(ATTN: ADDS paras 2, 6-9 with environmental group's funding reform, detail)
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for Choi Yul, a
leading grassroots environmentalist, on Monday on allegations he embezzled his
organization's money to buy stocks and pay for his child's education.
The probe was the latest blow for the Korean Federation of Environmental Movement
and the broader civic movement whose influence had notably grown over the past
decade of liberal rule.
Choi was suspected of pocketing 200 million won (US$138,122) in state funds and
corporate donations to the leading environmental organization that he chaired
from 1993 to 2005 and still serves as an adviser to.
Prosecutors allege Choi diverted the money on several occasions and invested
personally in stocks and funding his daughter's study overseas.
Choi has denied the allegations, saying "I swear upon the heavens, I am confident
I didn't spend a single penny of it." He had told the prosecution that he merely
lent his name to the organization to create bank accounts for its financial
management. A court usually decides in a day or two whether to issue an arrest
warrant.
The probe prompted Choi's organization to apologize publicly for a lack of
transparency. It said it will no more accept large-scale corporate and government
money, fund itself only with grassroots donations and release financial
statements on the Web on a monthly basis.
"We humbly accept the criticism that the KFEM has failed to meet the high ethical
standard of a civil organization, expanded its size only for the sake of growth
and has been a civic movement that lacked citizens' voices," the organization
said in a statement released in a press conference.
But civic groups suspect the probe might be a witch hunt. Choi's organization and
other non-governmental groups have been spearheading protest movements against
President Lee Myung-bak's growth-driven, pro-business projects, such as the
privatization of water and medical services.
Many leading civic groups, including Choi's group, took root in the early 1990s
with the inauguration of the democratic government of Kim Young-sam. Their
political voices grew with the subsequent liberal rule.
Choi, 59, is the winner of various environmental and human rights awards
including the 1994 Global 500 award by the U.N. Environment Programme and the
1995 U.S. Goldman Environmental Prize for grassroots environmentalists.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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