Yoon's Side Submits Opinion on Arrest Warrant to Court... "Request Made by Unauthorized Agency"

"Cannot Comply with Illegal Investigation" Claim Also

The Joint Investigation Headquarters (Joint Headquarters), which is investigating the 12·3 Emergency Martial Law incident, filed an arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 30th. In response, President Yoon's side appointed legal counsel and submitted a written opinion to the court.

On the afternoon of the 27th, Yoon Gap-geun and Bae Jin-han, attorneys representing President Yoon Seok-yeol in the impeachment trial, are leaving the Constitutional Court courtroom in Jongno-gu, Seoul, after completing the first preparatory hearing for the impeachment trial case. Photo by Yonhap News

On the same day, President Yoon's side submitted a written opinion regarding the arrest warrant to the Seoul Western District Court in the afternoon. The legal team included lawyers Kim Hong-il and Yoon Gap-geun.

After submitting the written opinion, lawyer Yoon told reporters, "The core of the opinion is that the arrest warrant request was made by an unauthorized agency and does not meet the requirements for an arrest warrant request under the Criminal Procedure Act." It appears that the opinion contains the content that President Yoon's side has repeatedly asserted, claiming that the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (Hugae Gongsoocheo, or HUGO) does not have the authority to investigate treason.

Lawyer Yoon added, "Considering the requirements for an arrest warrant request, there should be substantial suspicion of a crime or issues with refusal to appear, but this warrant completely lacks those requirements, so it should naturally be dismissed."

Regarding President Yoon's failure to appear before the investigative agencies, he stated, "The basic position is that since investigative agencies without proper investigative authority are repeatedly summoning and conducting illegal investigations, we cannot comply with illegal investigations."

The Joint Headquarters, composed of HUGO and the police, requested President Yoon's third appearance the previous day. When he did not comply, they filed an arrest warrant request with the Seoul Western District Court at midnight on the same day.