Public Prosecutor General Refutes Criticism of 'Warrant Shopping': "If Requested Centrally, Judge Would Have Considered It"

Emphasizing at the National Assembly Special Committee on the 25th:
"No Issue with Requesting the Warrant at the Western District Court"

Odongwoon, the head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, is speaking at the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held on the 9th at the National Assembly to review and approve the request for a permanent special prosecutor investigation to determine the charges of insurrection against President Yoon Seok-yeol and others related to the emergency martial law situation. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Odongun, the head of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HOGCIO), stated on the 25th at the 5th hearing of the National Assembly's Special Committee on the Investigation of the Insurrection Charges through the Declaration of Martial Law by the Yoon Seok-yeol Government, “(The warrant) was not dismissed and then sent to the Seoul Western District Court.” This was a direct rebuttal to criticisms that it was improper to request an arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol at the Seoul Western District Court.

When asked by Joo Jin-woo, a member of the People Power Party, about requesting the warrant at the Western District Court, Director Oh said, “There is absolutely no problem,” and added, “Accusing it of illegality just because it is deemed inappropriate undermines the foundation of the rule of law.” Regarding the jurisdiction over President Yoon, he explained, “Since the crime scenes are all Yeouido, the Presidential Office, and the Presidential Residence, and the address is Itaewon, it falls under the Western District Court,” and further stated, “If the arrest warrant had been requested at the Central District Court, I think the judge would have had many concerns about jurisdiction.”

Regarding the fact that a communication warrant for President Yoon was requested at the Central District Court but dismissed, and yet the People Power Party’s Joo Jin-woo’s office responded in a written inquiry that “there was no request for President Yoon’s warrant at the Central District Court,” Director Oh acknowledged, “I admit that the expression was inappropriate as it was assumed to be about the arrest warrant.” A HOGCIO official also said at a briefing that “there were some inaccurate expressions,” but “there was absolutely no intention to do so deliberately.” They added a somewhat weak excuse that the staff who prepared the response was a dispatched employee from another agency.

When Park Joon-tae, a member of the People Power Party, criticized the HOGCIO’s authority to investigate insurrection charges, “warrant shopping,” and the controversy over the access permit document for the 55th Security Group, urging “self-reflection,” Director Oh responded, “Excessive criticism not based on facts is difficult to endure.”