Security Service Official: "Yoon Said, 'Crush Them If They Force Their Way In' After Arrest Warrant Failed"

Former Security Chief Testifies in Court
"Also Said 'Destroy Them' in Reference to the Corruption Investigation Office"
Responds to Yoon's Team: "Acted According to My Conscience"

Court testimony has emerged stating that former President Yoon Sukyeol said, after the first arrest warrant by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials failed to be executed in January, "If they force their way in, conduct a show of force so they feel they'll be crushed."

Former President Yoon Sukyeol is attending the first trial on charges of "obstruction of special official duties and abuse of authority to obstruct the exercise of rights" at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on September 26, 2025. Photo by Joint Press Corps

Lee Kang, former Head of the Fifth Security Division at the Presidential Security Service, appeared as a witness at the ongoing trial on charges including obstruction of special official duties against former President Yoon, held on the 14th at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 35 (Presiding Judge Paek Daehyun), and made this statement.

According to testimony, after the first arrest warrant execution by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials failed, former President Yoon had lunch on January 11 with Kang Uigu, former Chief Secretary, Kim Junghwan, former Executive Secretary, and Kim Sunghoon, former Deputy Director of the Security Service. Lee stated that after the lunch, he recorded some of Yoon's remarks by sending them to himself on KakaoTalk.

The publicly disclosed KakaoTalk messages read, "The Security Service is suffering a lot because of my political issues. If they force their way in, conduct a show of force so they feel they'll be crushed. Even if it gets caught by the media, it's not a problem." Regarding this, Lee explained, "I remember he meant it would be okay even if it was shown on TV, and that it was also fine to display firearms."

Regarding the message, "Deploy helicopters. There are missiles here too. If they come in, fire warning shots and destroy them," Lee replied, "The President started to say something, then paused for a moment, and then softened his words to say 'destroy them.' As for the target, although the subject was omitted, the expression was used while talking about the Corruption Investigation Office and the police coming in."

Yoon's side questioned the credibility of the messages, asking why they were composed in four separate instances. They also asked, "Wasn't the lunch arranged by the President simply to acknowledge everyone's hard work, rather than to prepare for an arrest or actions by the Corruption Investigation Office?"

Lee responded, "In my 25 years of service, it was the first time, to my recollection, that I had a meal with a division head and the President, and the occasion felt significant. At first, I thought he was encouraging us because we seemed demoralized, but for about 20 to 30 minutes, there were remarks related to obstructing the execution of duties. I thought I should record this in case it became an issue later."

Additionally, when Lee testified that he had instructed his subordinates not to obstruct the execution of the arrest warrant by the Corruption Investigation Office, Yoon's side asked, "Considering that if you are criminally charged, you must undergo an investigation, and if found guilty, your pension could be revoked, is it not the case that you were too afraid to carry out your duties?"

To this, Lee replied, "If it is later determined that the President was right and it was not an insurrection, I would still be held legally responsible for holding such an opinion," adding, "I acted according to my conscience."