The anti-corruption office will extend the validity period of the order amid tensions with the Police
MADRID, 6 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
South Korea’s Senior Public Officials Crime Investigation Office (KOFIC) will extend the validity period of the arrest warrant for suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol, which expires this Monday, amid conflicts with the National Police over the exact procedure to execute the order.
The suspended president is under this court order after refusing to appear on three occasions to face accusations of insurrection within the framework of the failed martial law that he declared on December 3 and that unleashed a political storm in the country. Last Friday, a first attempt to arrest Yoon led to an open confrontation between the agents and their security detail, which finally made the investigators retreat.
Since then, a new controversy has emerged regarding the true authority that the KOFIC has over the national police. The deputy director of the anti-corruption agency, Lee Jae Seung, has assured in the face of criticism that “the execution of an arrest warrant must be carried out by the Police under the orders of a prosecutor and the orders mean that their execution can be entrusted to a police officer”.
This Monday, the South Korean Police sent a letter to the anti-corruption office declining its instructions to attempt a new arrest on the understanding that the request contains “legal defects,” police spokesman Baek Dong Heum said at a press conference. Police sources on condition of anonymity have indicated that, for now, the Police and KOFIC will continue to cooperate and share the responsibility of executing the arrest order of the suspended president, if it were to occur.
Regarding the expiration of the arrest warrant, which expires at midnight this Monday, local time (4:00 p.m. in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands), the deputy director of the KOFIC has estimated that the most likely thing, given the complexity of the situation, is His office is asking the courts to extend the validity of the order for an unspecified period, according to statements reported by the Korea Times.