Special Counsel Team Announces Plans for Arrest Warrant Submission
The special counsel team investigating the insurrection has announced that it will submit an opinion to the court regarding the issuance of an arrest warrant around mid-January next year. This timing coincides with the expiration of the detention period for former President Yoon Suk-yeol, which is set to end on January 18 of next year.
During a recent briefing, the special counsel emphasized that the investigation into former President Yoon is still ongoing. They stated, “We are contemplating whether to proceed with detention processing. It seems the approach will involve submitting an opinion on requesting the issuance of a warrant to the court around the time the detention period expires.”
Rejection of Arrest Warrants and Ongoing Investigations
The special counsel also addressed the rejection of arrest warrants for former Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae and former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn. They noted, “The court’s decision must be respected and is respected.” However, they added, “We find it difficult to accept the judgment that the necessity for detention is lacking. Refusing search and seizure and mobilizing supporters to block it clearly raises concerns about evidence destruction.”
The special counsel plans to analyze data secured through search and seizure and investigate related individuals before deciding on future steps. Regarding Park, they stated, “After reviewing the reasons for the arrest warrant rejection and internal discussions, we will determine the next steps.” They continued, “Compared to the first rejection, there seems to be slightly more clarification regarding awareness of illegality and how such awareness arose. We believe this rejection differs somewhat from the first instance.”
Background on Arrest Warrant Requests
Earlier, the special counsel had requested arrest warrants for Park on charges of participating in key tasks related to the insurrection and for Hwang on charges of inciting the insurrection. However, the court rejected both warrants on the same day.
Park’s arrest warrant had previously been rejected on the 15th of last month, with the court stating, “There is room for dispute over awareness of illegality.” The court judged, “Even after considering newly added charges and collected materials since the previous rejection, there remains room for dispute over the allegations.” Park is accused of participating in former President Yoon’s insurrection crimes by directing the Ministry of Justice to review dispatching prosecutors to a joint investigation headquarters, preparing a team to restrict departures, and checking the capacity of correctional headquarters for detentions immediately after the emergency martial law declaration.
Court’s Reasoning for Rejecting Hwang’s Warrant
Meanwhile, the court explained the rejection of Hwang’s warrant, stating, “The necessity for detention is lacking, and there is insufficient demonstration of grounds for detention such as flight risk or evidence destruction concerns. It appears that evidence regarding objective factual relationships has been largely collected.” Hwang is accused of inciting the insurrection by posting on his Facebook immediately after the emergency martial law declaration, writing, “Emergency martial law has been declared. The top priority now is to prevent national chaos. Arrest National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik. Arrest People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon, who is directly obstructing the president’s measures.”