Citizen Group "Park Jong-jun, Chief of Security Office, Reported for Obstruction of Yoon's Arrest and Charges of Rebellion"

On the morning of the 3rd, people believed to be employees of the Corruption Investigation Office arrived in front of the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Seoul, to execute an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk-yeol, waiting at the main gate to enter the residence. Photo by Heo Young-han

Civil society organizations have filed a complaint against Park Jong-jun, the head of the Security Office, and other Security Office personnel for obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant by the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Division (PCC) against President Yoon Seok-yeol.

The Emergency Action for the Immediate Resignation of Yoon Seok-yeol and Social Reform (Emergency Action) announced on the 3rd that they would accuse Park and others of charges including obstruction of special official duties, harboring a criminal, abuse of authority, and violation of the Act on the Protection of the President and Others. Emergency Action stated, "The arrest of Yoon Seok-yeol is a legitimate investigative procedure with no concerns of military or official secrets being compromised."

They added, "Since the execution of the warrant is unrelated to the current Security Act and security zone regulations, the Security Office is abusing its authority and obstructing official duties carried out through due process." The group emphasized, "Even if Head of Security Park was ordered by his superior, the President or the Acting President, to block the execution of the PCC's arrest and search warrants, obstructing the execution of a court-issued warrant is clearly an illegal or unlawful order."

The Citizens' Action for Judicial Justice also stated that "Park obstructed the lawful execution of the court's arrest warrant by illegally resisting with overwhelming force" and decided to file a complaint against him.

The Joint Investigation Headquarters (Joint HQ), composed of the PCC and the Police Special Investigation Unit (Special Unit), attempted to execute the arrest warrant at President Yoon Seok-yeol's residence in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the same day but were blocked by Security Office personnel. It is reported that the 55th Guard Unit of the Capital Defense Command was even deployed to prevent the Joint HQ. After a standoff lasting about 5 hours and 30 minutes with the Security Office and others, the Joint HQ judged that executing the warrant was impossible and suspended the operation.