investigators want an extension of the warrant, police cite a “legal dispute” – RT in French

South Korea’s Senior Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) said on January 6 that it had requested an extension of the arrest warrant against President Yoon Seok-yeol. Summoned to apply this mandate, the South Korean police pointed to “a legal dispute” concerning the letter sent to them by the IOC.

The arrest warrant against Yoon Seok-yeol, following his failed attempt to impose martial law, expired on January 6 at midnight (6 p.m. Moscow time). Earlier in the day, the Office of Investigation of Senior Corruption announced that it would request the extension of this warrant issued on December 31 by a court in Seoul.

“We plan to request an extension today, which requires stating the reasons for exceeding the standard seven-day deadline,” IOC deputy director Lee Jae-seung told reporters. He also indicated that the IOC had sent a letter to interim President Choi Sang-mok on January 4 “to demand cooperation from the Presidential Security Service regarding the mandate”, without obtaining a response.

A presidential security service (PSS) which had prevented the arrest of the deposed president on January 3, opposing for several hours the officials of the IOC and the police who had entered his official residence in Seoul. Since then, the PSS has threatened to file a complaint for “unauthorized intrusion” into the presidential residence. Its leader, Park Chong-jun, as well as his deputy Kim Seong-hoon, are now being prosecuted for their obstruction, the news agency reported Yonhap.

According to the same source, the CIO also sent a letter to the police on January 5 so that they could execute the arrest warrant. A request, for the moment, rejected by the police. “Following an internal legal review, we determined that the IOC’s official letter on the execution order posed a legal dispute,” a senior police official, Baek Dong-heum, told reporters on January 6. cited by Yonhap. “We will continue to consult the IOC regarding the execution of the detention warrant,” he assured.

Yoon Seok-yeol was suspended from his role as president following Parliament’s adoption of an impeachment motion on December 14, days after his failed attempt to impose martial law on the night of December 3-4 . Yoon rejects the accusations of rebellion and abuse of power brought against him and assured on December 12 that he would “fight to the end”. His former Defense Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, who resigned immediately after the state of emergency was lifted, has already been arrested.