A Seoul court on Friday refused to issue an arrest warrant for a former senior official of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) allegedly involved in the spy agency's interference in domestic politics and blacklisting celebrities.

The prosecution had sought to arrest Choo Myeong-ho, a former chief of the NIS domestic intelligence unit, on charges of abuse of power and violation of the NIS law banning its political involvement.

The prosecution has been carrying out a series of probes into alleged misdeeds involving past government officials, which the conservative opposition parties have labeled "political retribution."

Source : Yonhap