A court issued an arrest warrant for a former executive of a state-run state housing developer on Friday over alleged real estate speculation.

The man, whose identity was not made public, became the highest-ranking official of the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) to be arrested in a massive land speculation scandal over the state developer.

The Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Court in Gyeonggi Province issued the arrest warrant, saying that the former official is a flight risk and could destroy evidence.

He is suspected of taking bribes, after his retirement in 2016, from land developers in exchange for submitting requests at LH on their behalf.

In April, the police raided seven locations, including the LH headquarters, the suspect's residence and the Seongnam City Hall, in connection with the charge.

Earlier this week, the team announced its interim investigation results, which include arrests of 20 people and referrals of 529 others to the prosecution for further investigation. Thirteen lawmakers, 14 local government chiefs and eight senior government officials are currently being investigated.

The LH scandal and runaway housing prices left many people disenchanted with the Moon Jae-in government and have been blamed for the ruling Democratic Party's defeat in the mayoral by-elections in April. The government is currently exploring ways to revise the housing policy. (Yonhap)