The ruling People Power Party on Thursday questioned the legality of the search and arrest warrant issued for suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol, who could become the first sitting president to be detained.
The warrant to arrest Yoon, which was issued by a Seoul court judge Tuesday, granted an exception to the criminal procedure law that bars access to or searches of high-level military or public offices without their consent.
Some former judges in the People Power Party slammed the warrant as possibly illegal.
“A judge cannot make exceptions in applying the law. Laws cannot be selectively enforced or ignored. Due process cannot be sacrificed for the sake of a swift investigation,” Rep. Na Kyung-won, a five-time lawmaker and a former judge, wrote in a statement.
Rep. Jang Dong-hyuk, another former judge, told reporters “the selective application of laws to force a desired outcome” spelled the “death of the judicial system.” “Investigating the president is one thing. Tweaking laws is another,” he said.
The judges-turned-lawmakers also took issue with the arrest warrant having been requested by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, a Moon Jae-in era creation, which is not authorized to handle crimes related to insurrection.
The CIO, which in about two weeks will mark the fourth anniversary of its launch, was formed under the Moon administration for the purpose of keeping the “biased and powerful” prosecution in check.
The People Power Party deputy chair of the Assembly judiciary committee, Rep. Yoo Sang-bum, told reporters the Seoul court judge’s decision to exclude some laws in approving the arrest warrant “could be a cause for impeaching the judge.”
Speaking to The Korea Herald, Democratic Party Rep. Jang Kyung-tae, also a member of the judiciary committee, accused the People Power Party of “intimidating the judge” for doing his job in the investigation into the president’s “insurrection.”
“The People Power Party is turning into a party of insurrection defenders,” he said.
People Power Party lawmakers say, however, that it would be ultimately up to Yoon to comply with the arrest warrant.
“Regardless, whether the arrest warrant is lawful is still worth looking into,” three-time ruling party Rep. Song Seog-jun, a member of the judiciary committee, told The Korea Herald.
arin@heraldcorp.com
