A local court issued a warrant on Wednesday to arrest the South Korean foster daughter of Hwang Jang-yop, the late highest-ranking North Korean defector, on suspicion of fraud.

A 70-year-old woman surnamed Kim was accused of snatching about

3 billion won (US$2.7 million) for the past three years from three investors with her accomplice, surnamed Yoon, after falsely saying they would give them rights to conduct business at a U.S. military base, according to the court.

The Seoul Southern District Court said it issued a warrant to detain Kim on fears she could escape or destroy evidence. Police are still hunting for the 50-year-old Yoon.

The victims invested the money because the fact that she is Hwang's foster daughter gave their business proposal credibility, according to police.

Kim became the foster daughter of Hwang, a former secretary of the North's ruling Workers' Party, who defected to the South in 1997. She, as Hwang's only legal family member in South Korea, had taken care of her foster father until he died at the age of 87 in October 2010.

Hwang is known as the main architect of the North's "juche" or self-reliance ideology and was said to have tutored late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and played a key role in his rise to power. (Yonhap News)