Re-Requesting Detention Warrant for Former Minister Park
On the 11th, the insurrection special counsel team re-requested a detention warrant for former Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae. This came approximately one month after the court had rejected the initial request on the 15th of last month. The special counsel announced that around 11:50 a.m. that day, they submitted the renewed application, charging Park with involvement in an insurrection’s key mission and abuse of authority.
A source from the special counsel team explained, “Based on evidence secured through seizures and searches conducted after the warrant was rejected, we added newly collected criminal facts to the existing charges.” They added, “Through forensic analysis of seized items, we discovered a significant amount of meaningful content.”
Evidence and Legal Arguments
The special counsel believes that former Minister Park sequentially participated in former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s insurrection crimes by, following the December 3 emergency martial law declaration, convening meetings of Ministry of Justice bureau and department heads, reviewing the dispatch of prosecutors to the joint investigation headquarters, checking the capacity of correctional facilities, and instructing staff in charge of travel bans to report to work, among other actions.
Earlier, the detention warrant for former Minister Park, requested by the special counsel, was rejected by the court on the 15th of last month. Presiding Judge Park Jeong-ho of the Seoul Central District Court’s warrant division stated, “There was insufficient demonstration of the appropriateness of detention or concerns regarding flight or destruction of evidence.” Judge Park added, “There is room for dispute regarding how former Minister Park became aware of the illegality of the emergency martial law, the specific content of the recognized illegality, and whether or to what extent the measures taken by former Minister Park were illegal.”
Supplementary Investigations
Following this, the special counsel conducted supplementary investigations, re-seizing and searching former Minister Park’s mobile phone on the 22nd of last month. On the 23rd of last month, they summoned and questioned former Minister Park for over 10 hours. Additionally, they seized and searched some Ministry of Justice departments, including the Correctional Services Headquarters, to secure further evidence related to the instructions for facility inspections.
Ongoing Investigations
Meanwhile, the special counsel, who is investigating former Correctional Services Headquarters Chief Shin Yong-hae as a suspect, stated, “Separately from whether to request a warrant for former Minister Park, the investigation team is reviewing the request for a warrant.”