Police Refer Chung Jinsuk and Yoon Jaesoon Without Detention Over 'Presidential Office PC Initialization'

Charged With Abuse of Authority and Obstruction of Exercise of Rights

Former Chief of Staff to the President Chung Jinsuk and former Presidential Secretary for General Affairs Yoon Jaesoon, who are suspected of ordering the initialization of about 1,000 presidential office PCs around the time of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, have been handed over to the prosecution without being taken into custody.

On the 24th, the 3rd Special Prosecutor Special Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency referred former Chief of Staff Chung and former Secretary Yoon to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office without detention, each on charges including damage to public electronic records, abuse of authority interfering with the exercise of rights, and violation of the Presidential Records Act.

Chung Jinsuk, former Chief of Staff to the President.

Former Chief of Staff Chung is accused of submitting a plan to completely initialize all PCs in the presidential office at a senior secretaries' meeting held immediately after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached. Former Secretary Yoon is accused of putting forward the plan for full initialization of the PCs at that meeting. The plan is known to have been drawn up in February last year, before the impeachment motion was upheld.

The police believe the two attempted to destroy materials related to martial law. On the 3rd of this month, they summoned former Secretary Yoon for questioning as a suspect, and on the 9th, they did the same with former Chief of Staff Chung.