With the special prosecutors preparing for a seizure and search of Cheong Wa Dae by the weekend, tension is mounting on the legal argument between the defensive presidential office and the unflinching investigators.

The key legal ground for the Blue House is the Criminal Procedure Code clause, which bans the forceful search of places which require confidentiality due to national or military security reasons. Its claim is that officials are not entitled to force themselves into zones such as the presidential residence, the dispensary building and security offices.

The special prosecutors, however, are citing the presidential office‘s duty to preserve documents, suggesting that such records should also be available for investigation.

The investigation team led by Independent Counsel Park Young-soo earlier vowed to have President Park Geun-hye summoned for face-to-face questioning by mid-February and to raid the Blue House before then.

Considering the suspended president’s 65th birthday, which is on Thursday, the best scenario for investigators is to carry out the search on Friday, or Saturday at the latest, according to officials on Wednesday.

“We don‘t expect much celebration this year,” said a Blue House official Wednesday.

“Presidential staff members may individually visit the president’s residence after working hours, but that is about it.”

“Cheong Wa Dae itself is an archive of presidential records and thus has the duty to preserve key documents,” the independent counsel team’s spokesperson Lee Kyu-chul said Tuesday.

According to the law on presidential record management, one may not destroy, damage, conceal or leak presidential records. Outdated records, too, may be discarded only upon the approval of the committee in charge.

But exceptions are made for records which may cause confusion in national security or excessively infringe on an individual’s personal life, in which case the High Court may decide on whether or not to issue a search warrant.

Last year, the lower court issued the warrant requested by the prosecution’s special team but its execution was thwarted by the presidential security team.

“We will stick to the rule when it comes to the seizure and search,” said an official of the Blue House on Wednesday.

“Key confidential areas are in need of special security and may not be accessed by the independent counsel team.”

Cheong Wa Dae’s stern resistance to a search has been raising concerns that the presidential staff may be trying to gain time to conceal key evidence, but the investigation team dismissed such a possibility.

“The destruction of evidence, which is close to impossible, is bound to leave traces and this is one of the reasons that we should carry out the search,” Lee told reporters.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)