President Yoon Seok-yeol speaks to the public at the Presidential Office Building in Yongsan, Seoul on the 12th. Photo = Provided by the President’s Office
President Yoon Seok-yeol is facing the imminent arrest of a sitting president for the first time in constitutional history.
At 4:28 a.m. on the 15th, the Joint Investigation Headquarters, consisting of the High-ranking Public Officials Investigation Office and the police, departed from the Gwacheon Government Complex and arrived in front of the Presidential Residence in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Afterwards, when the KCDC presented an arrest warrant, a confrontation ensued due to opposition from President Yoon’s lawyers and People Power Party lawmakers.
The air conditioning unit entered the official residence at 7:34 a.m. and passed the first cordon. Afterwards, at 7:48 a.m., the vehicle bypassed the barrier and also crossed the secondary cordon. At 7:57 a.m., he arrived at the iron gate in front of the residence and was discussing the execution of the warrant with Secretary Jeong Jin-seok and Attorney Yoon Gap-geun.
The Corruption Investigation Office is executing the warrant with the support of the police, who are also putting together a copy. Even if the police executes the arrest warrant, arrest equipment such as handcuffs may not be used, considering that he is the sitting president. When moving from Hannam-dong to Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do, where the airlift office is located, the vehicle, etc. is expected to be decided in consultation with the security office.
If the Corruption Investigation Office arrests President Yoon, he will be interrogated in the video investigation room located on the 3rd floor of the Corruption Investigation Office in Building 5 of the Gwacheon Government Complex. When the first arrest warrant was executed, Lee Dae-hwan, head of the 3rd investigation department, was scheduled to conduct a face-to-face investigation. This time, Cha Jeong-hyeon, head of the 4th investigation department, is expected to do it himself. Chief Prosecutor Lee is also expected to join the investigation.
It is known that the decision to deploy two chief prosecutors in the investigation of President Yoon was a reference to the prosecution case that investigated the former president. It is said that the two chief prosecutors prepared a questionnaire of over 200 pages. We are also considering video recording the entire investigation process, including break times. The legal community believes that if President Yoon is arrested, he will be detained at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, close to Gwacheon.
If the Corruption Investigation Office secures a new identity for President Yoon, it must request an arrest warrant within 48 hours. If an arrest warrant is not requested within the deadline, the suspect, President Yoon, will be released. If an arrest warrant is requested and issued, the Corruption Investigation Office must complete the investigation related to the charges of rebellion within 10 days and transfer the case to the prosecution.
The Corruption Investigation Office and the prosecution agreed to a 20-day detention period for rebellion suspects before indictment, and decided to send the case to the prosecution before the 10th day, when the detention period is extended. Since the Corruption Investigation Office does not have the right to indict the President, unless a special prosecution for the insurrection is launched, it will be the prosecution’s special investigation headquarters that will put President Yoon on trial.
Reporter Choi Jeong-seo adien10@segye.com
Source: www.segyebiz.com
