Seoul: A warrant review panel sided with the police on Thursday, determining that it was appropriate for them to request arrest warrants for two senior officials of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) who are accused of obstructing investigators' attempts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the warrant review committee of the Seoul High Prosecutors Office reached this decision during a closed-door meeting, recommending that prosecutors seek court approval for the warrants on the police's behalf. Six of the panel's nine outside experts voted in favor of the recommendation, as reported by the committee.
Last month, the special police investigation team, handling the incident involving Yoon's brief martial law imposition on December 3, requested the committee to review its case. This was after the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office rejected, for the third time, the request to seek arrest warrants for acting PSS chief Kim Seong-hoon and Lee Kwang-woo, chief of the PSS's bodyguard division.
The review committee operates under six high prosecutors' offices nationwide and evaluates whether prosecutors' decisions to reject arrest warrant requests are justified. However, the committee's decisions are not legally binding.
Kim and Lee face accusations of obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant for Yoon in January, taking unjust personnel actions, and instructing subordinates to delete records of phone conversations between Yoon and military commanders involved in the martial law declaration. These calls were allegedly made during the martial law situation using secret phones distributed by the PSS, which were equipped with programs designed to prevent wiretapping and recording.
Police have maintained that their charges are sufficiently substantiated and argue there is a risk that Kim and Lee could destroy evidence, thereby justifying their arrests. Prosecutors, however, denied the requests, arguing that the charges were disputable and that Kim and Lee are unlikely to repeat obstructing Yoon's arrest since the suspended president is already in custody.
Following Thursday's decision, prosecutors are expected to consider seeking arrest warrants for the two PSS officials if the police submit a fourth request. "We respect the review committee's decision and will proceed with follow-up measures," said an official with the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office, who requested anonymity.