Police Fail to Execute Search Warrants at Presidential Office and Hannam-dong Official Residences After 10-Hour Standoff

Citing Military and Official Secrets
"Agreed to Negotiate Voluntary Submission of Secret Phone, etc."

The police's attempt to conduct a search and seizure to investigate former President Yoon Seok-yeol's alleged 'arrest obstruction' was thwarted by the Presidential Security Service.

The Special Investigation Unit for Emergency Martial Law, which attempted to search the Presidential Office, is leaving the entrance of the Civil Petition Office at the Yongsan Presidential Office in Seoul on the 16th. Photo by Yonhap News

The Police Emergency Martial Law Special Investigation Unit announced through a media release at around 8:40 p.m. on the 16th, stating, "We received a written refusal to execute the search and seizure warrant from the Presidential Office and the Security Service."

The police said, "The Security Service agreed to submit materials such as the secret phone server voluntarily as much as possible, and we will continue to negotiate the voluntary submission method and procedures."

The Security Service based its refusal on Articles 110 and 111 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which stipulate that "places or items requiring military or official secrets cannot be searched or seized without the consent of the person in charge or the public office."

At around 10:13 a.m. that day, the police presented the search and seizure warrant to security guards at the entrance of the Presidential Office and the Hannam-dong official residence complex and attempted to conduct the search. However, the Presidential Office and the Security Service did not authorize the execution, and the police withdrew after ten and a half hours.

The targets of this search and seizure were the secret phone server of the Security Service within the Presidential Office, the Security Service office in the official residence complex, and documents at the Security Service chief's official residence. The police planned to secure these materials to prove the allegation that former President Yoon attempted to obstruct the first arrest attempt by the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HCIC) and the police on January 3 through the Security Service.

The police also aimed to secure CCTV footage from the Presidential Office to investigate the alleged order by former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min to cut power and water to media companies (an act of rebellion), but ultimately returned empty-handed.