South Korean police have booked suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol on suspicion of obstructing the execution of a warrant issued to detain him in January, officials said Friday.
Yoon, who was impeached by the parliament after his botched martial law declaration on Dec. 3, is suspected of instructing his bodyguards in the Presidential Security Service to prevent investigative authorities from arresting him in relation to the criminal investigation over charges he led an insurrection.
Yoon had already been booked on the same charges of hindering special official duties on Jan. 3 via a complaint filed by the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party. However, as a sitting president, Yoon cannot be prosecuted criminally except for insurrection or treason.
Accusations against Yoon for obstructing an arrest warrant were included in the Jan. 18 initial request for a detention warrant for Kim Sung-hoon, the first deputy director of the Presidential Security Service, who is also accused of interfering with special official duties by ordering his staff to block Yoon's arrest.
According to police officials, authorities discovered evidence of Yoon exchanging text messages with Kim regarding the obstruction of the former's arrest warrant while the police officials were conducting a search and seizure of the latter's phone.
Police added that Yoon first exchanged text messages with Kim on Jan. 3, when authorities made their first attempt to arrest him before they were blocked by the Presidential Security Service. Yoon also exchanged text messages with the PSS first deputy head four days later, on Jan. 7.
Police said these messages were exchanged through Signal, an end-to-end encrypted messaging app based in the US. Though police officials told the press that the “specific details of the messages cannot be disclosed,” the messages reportedly included direct orders from Yoon to “take proactive measures” if a second attempt to arrest him were to be made.
The police added that they were aware that Yoon had instructed Kim to obstruct the warrant for his arrest even before they secured the messages through Kim’s phone.
Police have requested an arrest warrant for Kim three times from the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office over Kim’s attempt to block Yoon’s arrest. On Tuesday, their request was denied saying the listed charges for Kim are “disputable and the possibility of Kim destroying any evidence or flee is low.”
A police request to arrest Lee Kwang-woo, head of the Presidential Security Service's Bodyguard Division, was also rejected on the same day for similar reasons.
The police also stated on Friday that it had transferred cases involving six military officials, including Lt. Gen. Won Cheon-hee, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, to investigate further into these military officials’ involvement in Yoon's martial law decree.
After being voted impeached by the National Assembly on Dec. 14, Yoon was arrested for leading an insurrection on Jan. 15 by officials from the CIO, making him the first sitting president to be taken into custody.
Following the 10th hearing in Yoon’s impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court on Thursday, the court announced it would hold the 11th and final hearing on Tuesday. After the final hearing, the verdict to conclude Yoon’s trial is expected to be announced before mid-March.
Yoon is being held at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province.
lee.jungjoo@heraldcorp.com
