A warrant review panel sided with police Thursday, concluding it was appropriate for them to request arrest warrants for two senior officials of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) accused of obstructing investigators' attempt to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The warrant review committee of the Seoul High Prosecutors Office reached the decision after a closed-door meeting that lasted about four hours.
Last month, the special police investigation team handling Yoon's short-lived martial law imposition on Dec. 3 asked the committee to review its case after the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office rejected for the third time its request to seek arrest warrants for acting PSS chief Kim Seong-hoon and Lee Kwang-woo, chief of the PSS's bodyguard division.
The review committee, which operates under six high prosecutors' offices nationwide and consists of outside panelists, assesses whether prosecutors' decisions to reject arrest warrant requests were justified. However, its decisions are not legally binding.
Kim and Lee are accused of obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant for Yoon in January, taking unjust personnel actions, and instructing subordinates to delete records of conversations between military commanders involved in the martial law declaration using secret phones.
Police have argued that their charges were sufficiently substantiated and that there is a risk they could destroy evidence, justifying their arrests.
Prosecutors, however, denied the requests, contending that the charges were disputable and that they are unlikely to repeat obstructing Yoon's arrest because the suspended president is already in custody.
Following Thursday's decision, prosecutors are expected to consider seeking arrest warrants for the two PSS officials.
"We respect the review committee's decision and will proceed with follow-up measures," said an official with the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office, requesting anonymity.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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