"Yoon's Indictment Was Lawful Even by Time Standards"
Oh Dong-woon, the head of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit, stated on the 12th regarding the cancellation of President Yoon's detention, "It was a very lawful indictment," adding, "There was no violation of legal procedures in the execution of duties, and the court did not find any issues with the investigative authority." This effectively expressed his refusal to the ruling party's demand for his resignation.
Odongwoon, the head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, is responding to questions regarding President Yoon Seok-yeol's decision to cancel the arrest at the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on March 12, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyun-min
On the same day, Oh appeared at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee to respond to Park Joon-tae, a member of the People Power Party, who mentioned the 'warrant shopping suspicion' that arose during the process of requesting an arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol and the controversy over the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit's investigative authority. Park asked, "At this point, I think it is appropriate for you to resign. What do you think?" to which Oh replied accordingly.
Oh stated, "Regarding the investigative authority and jurisdiction over warrants of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit, it was precisely confirmed by five different judges from the Seoul Central District Court and the Seoul Western District Court that they have jurisdiction and investigative authority," adding, "The court's decision to cancel the detention did not include a specific judgment on the existence of investigative authority, and only the claims of President Yoon's defense counsel were mentioned."
He also took the floor to argue that there was a problem with the court's method of calculating the detention period for President Yoon. He said, "While respecting the decision of the 25th Criminal Division of the Central District Court, even if the detention period is calculated based on 'hours' rather than 'days' as the court ruled, adding the 10 hours and 32 minutes that the records related to the detention review remained with the court, the detention period extends until 7:39 p.m. on January 26, not 9:07 a.m."
He continued, "The indictment was made earlier, around 6:52 p.m. The prosecutor completed the indictment exactly 47 minutes before the indictment deadline, calculating very conservatively," and explained, "Therefore, even according to the time standard presented by the court, it was a very lawful indictment."
On the same day, when criticism from the ruling party that the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit conducted an excessive investigation continued, Oh raised his voice. When Song Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party, asked, "Isn't the act of mocking and insulting the sitting president during the investigation an act of rebellion?" Oh responded, "That statement is excessive."
He emphasized, "We carried out the arrest and detention warrants lawfully issued by the court without any deviation from the principle of due process, and we executed the arrest and detention warrants, which are court orders, as instructed," adding, "How can the sacred National Assembly so insult a government agency that is performing such duties?"
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