Yoon's Side: Police's Repeated Summoning of Security Office Executives an Abuse of Investigative Authority

"Do Not Fall into the Path of Political Policing"

The office of President Yoon Suk-yeol strongly opposed the police's repeated summonses to executives of the Presidential Security Service, calling it an "abuse of investigative authority" and urged restraint.

Yoon Gap-geun, lawyer for President Yoon Seok-yeol. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

Yoon Gap-geun, a lawyer representing President Yoon, stated in a press release distributed to reporters on the morning of the 13th, "The police's mission is to protect the lives, bodies, and property of the people and to maintain public peace and order. As servants to the entire nation, they must uphold fairness and neutrality and must not abuse the authority granted to them." He pointed out, "However, the current behavior of the police shows a disregard even for the most fundamental principles of their mission and the prohibition against abuse of authority."

He added, "Extreme conflicts are erupting in front of the presidential residence, and particularly some radical and violent protesters such as the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (Minnocho) have armed themselves and attempted to break into the residence, threatening to arrest the president, creating a very urgent situation. Meanwhile, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) is attempting to enforce illegal arrest warrants and unlawfully carry out official duties." He said, "In this situation, the police summoning executives of the Presidential Security Service and obstructing the legitimate performance of their duties is tantamount to the police abandoning the values of fairness and neutrality and choosing the path of a 'political police,' which is no different from the severe abuses of police power seen in totalitarian states."

Lawyer Yoon argued, "The president's security is directly linked to national security and must be carried out 24 hours a day without any rest." He claimed, "The application for arrest warrants and the continuous summonses of the Security Service executives are malicious attempts to paralyze the command structure of the Security Service and constitute self-harm to national security."

He continued, "The Security Service executives are not refusing to appear; they have communicated their intention to attend and be investigated once the current urgent situation is resolved. Yet, only these executives are being subjected to abuse of investigative authority and human rights violations." He questioned, "It is doubtful whether the police have been urging summonses and conducting forced investigations so aggressively even in ordinary criminal investigations. The executives in question have appointed legal counsel and submitted requests to postpone their appearance dates and will subsequently cooperate fully with the investigation."

Furthermore, Lawyer Yoon emphasized, "Not only is the police acting without legal grounds by executing the CIO's illegal arrest warrants on their behalf, but the summons notices that severely disrupt the Security Service's duties are nothing but an abuse of investigative authority." He stressed, "The police must not make the mistake of returning to the path of political policing due to some erroneous judgments, and police officers should avoid obstructing the work of the Presidential Security Service and thereby incurring legal responsibility."