Court, prosecution at odds over warrants

By Lee Kyung-min

The court and prosecution are in conflict over a series of rejections of arrest warrants for key criminal suspects from the two former administrations.

The Seoul Central District Court rejected an arrest warrant for a former executive at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Wednesday, dismissing the prosecution’s claim he should be punished for tampering with evidence.

The court said while the official did order his underlings to shred documents containing key company information including accounting data, he did so to protect his self-interest, not to protect that of others whose influence he was under.

An individual destroying evidence is not subject to criminal punishment because such an act is a Constitutional right against self-incrimination, it said.

However, this determination triggered a heated response from the prosecution.

“Under such narrow and restrictive reasoning, not one individual will be subject to punishment for tampering with evidence. We strongly denounce the court’s decision,” it said.

Park was the third among four suspects for whom the court refused to issue arrest warrants.

This also reflected frustration as it put major brakes on the prosecution’s investigation into defense industry corruption under the previous Park Geun-hye administration. It is one of two major tasks alongside the investigation into the National Intelligence Service (NIS) over its wide-ranging unlawful activities that benefited Park and her predecessor Lee Myung-bak.

This is the latest development in the conflict between the two entities.

Last Friday, the prosecution publicly denounced the court for rejecting its request to issue arrest warrants for two retired NIS officials, both of whom played key roles in an online smear campaign in the lead up to the 2012 presidential election to help then candidate Park and hurt her major liberal opponent Moon Jae-in.

In a rare statement, the prosecution said it could not help but question whether an outside factor other than the law or principle was at play in the court’s decision in neglecting to issue arrest warrants.

“A string of rejections of arrest warrants indicates the wide gap of criteria between the current judges and their predecessors. We are left confounded,” it said.

The comment apparently targeted three judges in charge of issuing warrants that were posted in February at the court including Kang Boo-young, Oh Man-seok and Kwon Soon-ho.

“Given the circumstances, the prosecution is greatly challenged in its duty to uncover the truth and hold accountable the criminally liable involved in the influence-peddling scandal and wrongdoings under former administrations.”

Since February, the court has denied the prosecution’s warrant requests twice sought for Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, and Woo Byung-woo, the former presidential secretary for civil affairs who faced charges of dereliction of duty.

Also managing to avoid arrest was former presidential aide Lee Young-seon, who was suspected of allowing unlicensed medical practitioners to enter the Cheong Wa Dae residential area violating security protocols and of obtaining mobile phones for Park and her aides under borrowed names.

In response, the court issued a statement denouncing the prosecution for raising what it called a groundless accusation.

“Arrest warrants are issued after a full and thorough review based on the merit of each cases including whether suspects pose flight risks or are likely to destroy evidence.

“It is highly regrettable that the prosecution is continuing to make unfounded, galling allegations that undermine the court’s judgment, which came reflecting their frustration about the court’s decision. It is highly inappropriate,” it said.

Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office head Yoon Seok-yeol said Wednesday the prosecution’s earlier statement was to clarify its stance in written form to prevent speculation from spreading further.