A Seoul court on Thursday dismissed an independent counsel’s request to suspend the presidential office’s refusal to be searched by investigators, effectively killing the possibility of an unprecedented raid of the nation’s highest office.

The Seoul Administrative Court dropped the case on the grounds that the independent counsel, as a state authority, cannot lodge an administrative lawsuit against the action or decision of another state authority. 

Lee Kyu-chul, spokesperson for special counsel Park Young-soo, said before the court’s decision, “We have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to search the Presidential Office under the current law if the court drops or rejects the case.”

With the raid foiled, the counsel is likely to focus on investigating President Park in person.

“Regardless of the probe period, we will conduct the questioning if possible,” the counsel team said, adding it is taking “necessary measures.” But it declined to share details just yet.

The counsel team has been investigating the massive corruption scandal that led to Park’s parliamentary impeachment on Dec. 9.

Some of the key allegations include that the president colluded with her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil to extort donations from local firms for the K-Sports and Mir foundations, directed the government’s systematic discrimination of left-wing cultural figures and allowed Choi to meddle in state affairs including the appointments of key offices.

The team said it will question Park over the bribery allegations regardless of whether an arrest warrant is issued for Samsung Group’s de facto leader Lee Jae-yong.

The counsel team was awaiting a court’s decision on its request for an arrest warrant for Lee. Samsung was the biggest corporate sponsor of Choi, providing over 40 billion won ($35 million), the team said.

Also on Thursday, the team officially asked acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn to extend the probe for a month. The investigation deadline is set for Feb. 28.

In the hearing held Wednesday, the independent counsel said the search on the presidential compound was necessary to obtain evidence, citing that President Park had hundreds of phone calls through a burner phone with Choi, even when Choi was on the run in Germany in late October amid the scandal.

Two main points raised during the hearing were whether the counsel team has the legal mandate to file a suit against another government body to invalidate an administrative action and whether the search is in national interest.

The counsel team filed a lawsuit last Friday after presidential aides refused the team’s entry into the presidential compound on Feb. 3, citing security reasons.

Under Korean law, searching top security sites with state secrets requires approval from the person in charge of the location. But the law prohibits the person from stopping the search unless it undermines national interest.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)