Prosecutors' Office Files Pre-Arrest Warrant for Son Jun-sung in 'Complaint Solicitation' Case... Detention Decision on 26th (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HCIC) has filed an arrest warrant for Son Junsung, the former Investigation Information Policy Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (currently the Human Rights Protection Officer at Daegu High Prosecutors' Office), who is a key figure in the so-called 'accusation ordering' scandal.

On the 25th, the HCIC stated, "Last weekend, we filed a pre-arrest warrant for Prosecutor Son at the Seoul Central District Court," adding, "Despite repeated requests for him to appear and cooperate with the investigation, he showed an uncooperative attitude by continuously postponing his appearance for reasons difficult to accept," explaining the reason for the filing.

The HCIC has charged Prosecutor Son with abuse of authority, obstruction of the exercise of rights, disclosure of official secrets, election interference, violation of the Public Official Election Act, and violation of the Personal Information Protection Act.

This is the first time since the HCIC was launched in January that it has sought to secure the custody of a suspect during an investigation.

Prosecutor Son is suspected of instructing prosecutors and investigators to draft accusations and collect supporting materials against figures from the ruling party while serving as the Investigation Information Policy Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in April last year, and delivering the accusation documents to Kim Woong, then a candidate for the United Future Party in the general election.

On the 10th of last month, the HCIC began investigating the accusation ordering scandal by conducting searches and seizures at Prosecutor Son's office at the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office and his residence. Subsequently, they also searched the Investigation Information Policy Office at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and seized materials from Prosecutor Seongmo (then in charge of Investigation Information 2) and Prosecutor A, a research prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, who were under Son's command at the time.

Recently, Prosecutor A and investigators affiliated with the Investigation Information Policy Office were summoned to investigate the organizational tasks at the time and whether Prosecutor Son ordered the drafting of accusation documents.

Meanwhile, the Seoul Central District Court has scheduled a pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant substantive examination) for Prosecutor Son at 10:30 a.m. on the 26th. The hearing on whether to detain him will be presided over by Judge Lee Sechang, head of the warrant division.