"Warrant Denied for Kim Seong-hoon and Lee Kwang-woo of Security Office in 'Yoon Arrest Prevention' Case... 'Room for Dispute on Criminal Charges'"

Court: "No Concern of Evidence Destruction or Flight"

Deputy Director Kim Seong-hoon and Security Headquarters Chief Lee Kwang-woo of the Presidential Security Service, who are accused of obstructing the arrest of President Yoon Seok-yeol, avoided detention.

Kim Seong-hoon, Deputy Director of the Presidential Security Service. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On the 21st, Judge Heo Jun-seo, in charge of warrants at the Seoul Western District Court, conducted a pre-arrest detention hearing for Deputy Director Kim and Chief Lee, who are charged with obstruction of special official duties and abuse of authority under the Presidential Security Act, and then rejected the arrest warrants, stating, "There is room for the suspects to dispute the criminal charges, and detention at this stage would excessively restrict the suspects' right to defense."

The court stated, "Most of the evidence necessary to prove the criminal charges has been sufficiently collected, and considering the extent of the evidence gathered so far and the progress of the investigation, there is insufficient indication that the suspects might destroy evidence." It added, "Considering the suspects' fixed residence, age, career, and family relationships, it is difficult to see any risk of flight at this point."

Deputy Director Kim's side reportedly emphasized their previous argument that the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Division (Gongsoocheo) does not have the authority to investigate treason, and that the issuance and execution of the arrest and detention warrants against President Yoon were also illegal. They also stated that their actions were carried out according to the guidelines prepared by the 'Crisis Response Task Force (TF)' led by former Security Chief Park Jong-jun, and that the installation of barricades and formation of human chains during the execution of the arrest warrant were merely passive resistance acts. Furthermore, they denied the allegations of ordering the deletion of records from the secure phone (security phone) server and unfair personnel actions against security officials who did not follow the orders to obstruct the arrest, asserting that abuse of authority did not apply.

In court, Deputy Director Kim also made a statement to the effect of, "The situation is serious, and the president's safety must be the top priority. Please allow me to focus on security. If I have committed a crime, I will sincerely respond to judicial procedures later."

This is the first time the two have faced the court's judgment on the arrest warrants. The prosecution had three times and twice rejected the arrest warrants for Deputy Director Kim and Chief Lee, respectively, which were requested by the police. However, on the 6th, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office Warrant Review Committee concluded that the prosecution's warrant request was valid. The police applied for the arrest warrants again on the 17th, and the prosecution requested the warrants the following day.