January 8, 2025
Seoul – The chief prosecutor of the Corruption Investigation Office, the senior official leading a joint investigation into allegations that President Yoon Seok-yeol led a rebellion and abused power, apologized for the agency’s failure to detain Yoon Seok-yeol but expressed his determination not to make any mistakes in the second attempt.
“As the chief information officer, I deeply regret the failure to implement the detention order issued by the court based on reasonable grounds,” Chief Information Officer Oh Tung-Woon said at a hearing of the National Assembly's Legislative Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
When a local lawmaker asked CIO officials whether they really did not know that Yin's bodyguards would resist, he said: “A lot of things happened beyond our expectations, so I take responsibility for that.”
Wu pledged to avoid any confusion in dealing with the president's bodyguards who blocked the chief information officer's access to Yin inside the presidential palace during Friday's standoff.
“We will be prepared to execute the warrant as if the second attempt is the last,” he said.
Oh maintained that the chief information officer had the authority to investigate the insurrection allegations against Yoon because a court warrant gave him the green light to do so. In light of this, Wu said he would seek ways to deal with the Presidential Security Service's attempts to prevent the Joint Investigation Team from arresting Yin, adding that if the Presidential Security Service tried to prevent the Joint Investigation Team from arresting Yin, he would consider charging them with obstructing authorities from performing their duties. .
The comments came after the chief information officer on Monday reversed within hours a decision to entrust Yin's detention to police, raising doubts about his investigative capabilities and role in the ongoing probe. More controversy.
Despite disruptions in the joint investigation ahead of the arrest warrant deadline, the investigative team did not make another attempt to detain Yoon. After a five-hour standoff, the first attempt on Friday was fruitless.
Although the court issued an arrest warrant on December 31, allowing the CIO to detain Yoon until it expired at midnight on Monday, the CIO on Monday sought to shift its responsibility for executing the warrant and instead let the police take over. The information chief added that it would not hand over investigative powers to the police in a joint investigation.
But the police did not comply with the CIO's request because its Office of National Investigations claimed the request was unlawful. Late on Monday, the information chief dropped his request for police to execute the warrant and applied for its extension. As of press time, the Seoul Western District Court has not issued a new arrest warrant.
Both parties criticized the chief information officer's haphazard decision, which was quickly reversed despite the seriousness of the case he was dealing with – to detain a sitting president, a move unprecedented in South Korea's history.
Rep. Kwon Sung-dong, the floor representative of the ruling People's Power Party, asked the chief investigator to transfer investigative powers to the police to “avoid chaos in the judicial system,” arguing that the chief investigator has neither the power nor the ability to lead the investigation into Yoon.
Kweon also claimed that the chief information officer had no authority to apply for a warrant to detain Yoon, likening it to “buying with counterfeit money.” He believes that the police should take the lead in the investigation and the information chief should step aside, which means that the police must later ask the prosecutor to apply for a court warrant.
Lawmakers from the main opposition party also criticized the chief information officer, but argued that the chief information officer should take the lead in executing the arrest warrant and investigating Yin.
Rep. Park Beom-kye said in a radio interview on Tuesday that the chief prosecutor deserves another chance to lead the investigation into Yoon, given the investigative agency's historical significance of “keeping both prosecutors and police on their toes.” middle.
Rep. Park Chan-dae, the Democratic floor leader, also said it was “disappointing” that the CIO was unable to detain Yoon over the past week, but urged the CIO to “be prepared together with the police. Detain Yin and anyone else who hinders him from performing his duties.” Arrest Warrant” if the warrant is extended.
A joint investigation into Mr. Yin's declaration of martial law on December 3 was launched on December 11. Before the arrest warrant was issued, the investigation team had summoned Yin three times to appear in court for questioning as of late December, but Yin ignored the summons.
