[JURIST] South Korea’s Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, Cho Yoon-sun [official profile], was arrested on Saturday by Korean prosecutors after allegedly creating a blacklist of artists critical of South Korea’s impeached president. Cho was arrested [Reuters report], along with a former chief of staff, for alleged abuse of power and perjury. Prosecutors say the blacklist was used by the government to punish and censor artists. Both Cho and the former chief of staff, Kim Ki-choon, publicly denied creating a blacklist. Cho is the first sitting minister to ever be arrested in South Korea. Cho resigned [WSJ report] from her position hours after her arrest.

This is not the first arrest made relating to South Korea’s impeached president, Park Geun-hye. In November, the Parliament of South Korea appointed a special prosecutor [JURIST report] to investigate President Park for allegedly allowing individuals to influence state affairs. In November two of the Park’s former aides and a close friend of the President were indicted on corruption charges [JURIST report]. The investigation led to the impeachment of the president [JURIST report], accused of sharing confidential governmental information and extorting millions of dollars from large corporations. The investigation led to the donations made by Samsung Group and last week, the special prosecutor asked the court to grant an arrest order [JURIST report] for Samsung’s executive. However, on Thursday, the South Korean court refused [JURIST report] to issue an arrest warrant for the executive.