S. Korean minister arrested over artist blacklist allegation

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean prosecutors on Saturday arrested President Park Geun-hye's culture minister and her former top presidential adviser over allegations that they blacklisted artists critical of the government.

Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun and ex-presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon allegedly drew up the list of thousands of artists and cultural figures to be excluded from government funding programs.

In a setback to prosecutors' investigation, a Seoul court on Thursday disapproved the arrest of Lee Jae-yong, the de-facto leader of Samsung Group which donated the largest portion of the money to two non-profit foundations controlled by Choi.