The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (Hogeong) has launched an investigation into the prosecution for rejecting the arrest warrant requested by the police for Kim Seong-hoon, Deputy Director of the Presidential Security Service.
On the 5th, Hogeong announced that it assigned the case of abuse of authority, obstruction of rights exercise, and dereliction of duty against Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung and Deputy Prosecutor General Lee Jin-dong of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to Investigation Division 4 (led by Chief Prosecutor Cha Jeong-hyun).
Earlier, the civic group Judicial Justice Restoration Citizens' Action (Sasehaeng) filed a complaint on the 27th of last month, stating, "Prosecutor General Shim and Deputy Lee repeatedly rejected the arrest warrant application on unreasonable grounds to conceal the prosecution's involvement in the December 3rd insurrection incident."
They also claimed that Deputy Director Kim Seong-hoon and Security Headquarters Chief Lee Kwang-woo ordered the destruction of evidence on the secret phone server of the Presidential Security Service, arguing that "the prosecution willfully and systematically neglected their investigation duties, resulting in dereliction of duty."
The police applied for arrest warrants for Deputy Director Kim and Chief Lee three times and twice respectively at the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office, but after rejection, they requested a warrant review committee at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office. The meeting is scheduled for the 6th.
The Warrant Review Committee is an organization that reviews whether the prosecution's decision was appropriate when a prosecutor rejects a warrant requested by the police without filing it with the court. It is composed entirely of external members.
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