The National Bureau of Investigation (NOI) of South Korea’s National Police Agency said Monday that the document sent by the anti-corruption department regarding the transfer of the execution of the arrest warrant against ousted President Yoon Suk- yeol contained “formal defects”, making it difficult for the police to comply with it.
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) — The National Bureau of Investigation (NOI) of South Korea’s National Police Agency said Monday that the document sent by the anti-corruption department regarding the transfer of the warrant execution he ruling against ousted President Yoon Suk-yeol contained “formal defects”, making it difficult for police to comply.
The police believe that the document sent by the Senior Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) requesting the execution of the arrest warrant against Yoon Suk-yeol is legally flawed and that the execution of this warrant should take place as part of the joint investigation unit, according to Youn Kun-young, a member of the Public Administration and Security Committee of the South Korean National Assembly, after a visit to the NOI.
The joint investigative unit is composed of the IOC, the NOI and the investigative service of the Ministry of Defense.
According to local media, the police position implies that responsibility for executing the arrest warrant lies with IOC prosecutors, with the police playing a supporting role rather than being the main enforcer.
The NOI said on Monday afternoon that police were discussing methods of executing the arrest warrant as part of the joint investigation unit with the IOC, adding that it was also considering measures to address the potential obstruction of presidential security service personnel, including options such as arresting members of the presidential security service who interfere with the execution of the arrest warrant.
Earlier in the day, the IOC said that after reviewing the professionalism of the police in executing arrest warrants and the need for a unified command structure at the scene, it had decided to transfer the task to arrest Mr. Yoon at the NOI in order to make the arrest more quickly and efficiently.
