Police authorities are now looking directly into President Yoon, as they review the possibility of seeking an arrest warrant for the president, and a search warrant for his residence as well as access to his digital records.
Bae Eun-ji has this report.
Investigations into insurrection charges are now closing in on President Yoon Suk Yeol, as the probe into the brief imposition of martial law escalates here in the country.
The police investigation team is not only seeking to summon him for questioning, but is also looking into requesting an arrest warrant, as well as a search warrant for the president’s residence in central Seoul.
During a press briefing by the police special investigation team on Friday, an official said that they’re also considering requesting a warrant to seize President Yoon’s communication records.
On Wednesday, the police tried to raid the presidential office but failed to get inside even with a search warrant, after security guards refused to cooperate.
After an hours-long stand-off at the gates, the investigators had to leave, and were able to receive only a limited number of documents, through voluntary submission.
Police will likely continue to carry out a compulsory investigation into the president, as they have deemed Yoon as a suspect, based on the evidence they’ve gathered so far in a rare investigation into a sitting president for insurrection charges.
Separately, the police have also obtained a secured phone of the country’s police agency chief, Cho Ji-ho.
The investigation team says President Yoon called him by phone six times, ordering the arrest of lawmakers on the night martial law was declared last week.
In another separate investigation by the prosecutors a request for an arrest warrant was made for the chief of the military’s counter-intelligence command Yeo In-hyung, suspected of carrying out a “key role” when the martial law was in place.
He’s alleged to have been given orders to send troops into the National Assembly to arrest key opposition party lawmakers and to send troops to the National Election Commission to obtain servers.
Meanwhile, the legal team representing former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun said Friday that President Yoon’s decision to declare martial law was “not an insurrection,” as it was within the president’s constitutional rights.
The team also went on to claim that attempting to investigate the case itself is an insurrection, and added the ex-defense chief plans to join the president in his fight to “protect the Constitution.”
Kim was formally arrested on insurrection charges on Wednesday after being named as the “mastermind” behind last week’s failed imposition of martial law.
Bae Eun-ji, Arirang News.
source : https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=279003
