Seoul, Feb 24 (IANS) South Korean police on Monday requested a higher prosecution office to review their request for an arrest warrant for the acting chief of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) over allegations that he attempted to obstruct South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s detention.
Police investigators handling the case submitted the request to the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, seeking a review of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office’s earlier decision to dismiss their arrest warrant request for acting PSS chief Kim Seong-hoon for the third time.
The warrant review committee, operating under six high prosecutors’ offices nationwide, assesses whether prosecutors’ decisions to reject arrest warrant requests were appropriate.
Police also filed a request for a review of a warrant denial for Lee Kwang-woo, head of the PSS bodyguard division.
Prosecutors had previously denied the requests, arguing that the charges were disputable and that the likelihood of the suspects destroying evidence or fleeing was low. They noted that Kim had voluntarily appeared for questioning.
The arrests were sought on charges of obstructing official duties and abuse of power after PSS agents prevented investigators from detaining Yoon in January over his failed martial law attempt the previous month, Yonhap news agency reported.
Earlier in the day, a South Korean parliamentary judiciary subcommittee passed an opposition-led bill mandating a special counsel probe into allegations against impeached South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol’s influence-peddling scandal during the 2022 by-elections.
Meanwhile, the final hearing of Yoon’s impeachment trial is slated for Tuesday, after which the Constitutional Court will decide whether to remove him from office or reinstate him.
Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly over his short-lived imposition of martial law on December 3. He was also alleged to have sent military troops to the National Assembly to prevent lawmakers from voting down the martial law declaration and to have planned to arrest key political figures.
–IANS
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