Jin Hyun Joo
SEOUL (Reuters) – The man at the center of efforts to prevent investigators from arresting impeached South Korean President Yun Seok-yeol has been arrested during the political crisis sparked by Yun’s brief declaration of martial law last month. Among them, he himself is attracting attention.
Mr. Yoon’s direct report, Park Chung-joon, was instrumental on Friday in rebuffing attempts by law enforcement authorities to issue an arrest warrant for Mr. Yoon, resulting in a six-hour standoff inside Mr. Yoon’s official residence. .
The presidential guard and the military prevented authorities from arresting Yun on riot charges under a warrant that was valid until Monday. Anti-graft organizations, which are leading the investigation along with police, announced Friday that they are considering next steps.
Yun’s declaration of martial law on December 3 shocked South Korea and led to his impeachment and suspension from office on December 14th. The president’s political fate is in the hands of the Constitutional Court.
Park is in a crucial position as his legal fate is contested by Yoon’s forces and numerous law enforcement agencies.
Park, who was appointed by Yoon in September, had already been instrumental in blocking investigative authorities from executing search warrants on presidential palaces and residences on national security grounds.
“The Presidential Security Office exists solely for the absolute safety of those it protects,” Park said in a message on the service’s website, adding that there are loopholes in its mission to protect the president “at every moment.” He added that it shouldn’t happen.
He used this logic to reject Friday’s efforts to arrest Yun, saying investigators had exceeded the law and injured some security officials.
“Out of control”
Critics worry that President Park’s services are going too far.
Han Seung-hoon, a professor of police administration law at Dongsin University, said, “The presidential protection agency is a dangerous institution whose power can get out of control.”
“Because only the president has the power to control it, security agencies can abuse that power and become the president’s personal army.”
Anti-corruption organization the Office of the Inspector General Corruption Investigation (CIO) said it had to cancel plans for Friday’s arrests due to concerns for the safety of its staff.
The CIO said Yun’s security services and the military under his command outnumbered the officials he arrested. According to the paper, Yun’s associates at one point formed a human chain of about 200 people to prevent him from entering the official residence, and buses and military vehicles were also used to blockade the area.
On Friday, police announced they were investigating Park on suspicion of obstruction of justice and asked her to appear for questioning. He declined the offer for the time being, saying he could not leave work for even a moment at this critical time.
According to security officials, Park and her agent are in talks to respond to investigators at a later date.
Police on Saturday asked him to turn himself in on Tuesday.
Yun’s lawyers argue that the CIO lacks the authority to investigate the riot and that the arrest warrant is illegal.
A court on Tuesday approved the first warrant against a sitting president after Yun ignored repeated subpoenas for questioning.
controversial history
Critics of the Presidential Security Bureau call it a relic from the era of South Korea’s powerful leaders who ruled until the late 1980s.
During the military rule of the 1970s and 1980s, the country was under direct control of the president and led by loyal aides who wielded tremendous power.
After then-President Park Geun-hye was impeached in 2016, lawmakers called the service “the brainchild of an authoritarian military regime” and proposed changes to transfer the service to police agencies.
The government has also sought to downgrade the chief minister, but reform efforts appear to have stalled.
President Park’s predecessor was Kim Young-hyeon, a close ally of Yoon, who resigned from the post in September when Kim was appointed defense minister.
Kim subsequently resigned from the latter post and was charged with sedition for playing a key role in recommending and preparing the imposition of martial law.
The declaration, which Yun rescinded six hours later after the opposition-dominated National Assembly rebelled against him, was an attempt to outlaw political activities and control the media.
Park is a former high-ranking police official who ran unsuccessfully for the National Assembly twice in 2012 and 2016, but graduated at the top of his class from the Korea National Police Academy and was promoted to deputy commissioner of the National Police Agency in 2011.
In 2012, he supported the successful presidential election of conservative Park Geun-hye, and then served as deputy head of presidential security for Park Geun-hye until 2015.
When Park Jong-jun was appointed chief of presidential security, Yun’s chief of staff said that Park would help build a “high-level security system.”
Opposition parties are calling for Yoon’s arrest, accusing him of preventing his arrest, and calling for an investigation into his alleged role in the declaration of martial law.
According to media reports, he had previously been questioned as a witness in the investigation into the deposition, but had denied the charges.
