January 6, 2025
Seoul – The investigative agency leading the criminal investigation into President Yoon Seok-yeol said on Monday it has asked police to take over matters related to the president's arrest while working to petition the court to extend the arrest warrant.
The Office for the Investigation of Senior Officials' Corruption said it made the request in a formal letter on Sunday to the National Investigation Office, a unit of the National Police Agency. It stressed that the agency would not abdicate its investigative duties against the president, who faces abuse of power and insurrection charges related to his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law and related orders to military commanders.
The chief information officer also said that he would ask the court later in the day to extend the arrest warrant, which is due to expire at midnight on Monday.
Police said the request to take over arrest duties was made unilaterally by the chief information officer without police involvement and that the agency was conducting a legal review.
The chief information officer, who has been leading the joint investigation into Yoon, attempted to detain Yoon on Friday but was withdrawn after an hour-long standoff with the Presidential Security Service. There was no visible action Monday morning by the president's security team or investigators.
Officers from the Information Chief raided Yoon's official residence in Hannam-dong, Seoul, to arrest him. But dozens of investigators faced resistance from the president's security team, who refused to enter the building despite being presented with legal warrants.
It was reported that a dispute arose between the Chief Information Officer of the Public Security Bureau, Park Jong-jun, and the police over the arrest, after he was summoned by the police for questioning for refusing to execute an arrest warrant. Police reportedly recommended arresting Park on the spot, but the chief information officer rejected the idea.
The president's legal representatives objected to the execution of the arrest warrant following an attempt to arrest Yin, but a court on Sunday rejected the objection. In response to the information chief's statement on Monday, Yoon's legal representatives said blaming the police for Yoon's arrest was another illegal act.
With Yoon Eun-hye's future still unclear, protesters from both parties called for Yoon's arrest and protection, gathering throughout the weekend for demonstrations near the presidential palace. Dozens of lawmakers from the ruling People's Power party entered the residence on Monday morning in an attempt to prevent Yoon's arrest.
Kim Gi-hyeon, a four-term lawmaker from the party's pro-Yin faction, told reporters that his party would block what he claimed was an illegal arrest of the president.
Yoon is under criminal investigation on charges of rebellion and abuse of power, and also faces an impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court on the same charges.
