Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Is Presidential Security Service split between loyalists and critics?
President Yoon Suk Yeol waves to supporters as Kim Sung-hoon, right, deputy chief of the Presidential Security Service, stands guard nearby in front of Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, March 8. Yonhap
By Anna J. Park
Police weigh arrest warrant for pro-Yoon PSS official
The dismissal of a senior official from the Presidential Security Service (PSS), who opposed orders to use force to block the execution of a detention warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, has sparked a controversy over whether the decision was justified or an act of retaliation by security officials seeking to protect the president.
Earlier this year, the PSS clashed twice with police officers who were attempting to arrest the president, following orders from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. The office had sought to interrogate the president on charges of insurrection while he awaited an impeachment trial. This came after the National Assembly passed a motion to impeach him in December for declaring martial law, a move that led to his suspension from official duties.
According to reports from Korean media outlets, the PSS held a disciplinary committee meeting last Thursday and dismissed a senior official who had been leading a security division. Under PSS regulations, dismissal is a severe disciplinary action that forces a public official into retirement, ranking just below the highest-level penalty of expulsion from office.
The former official was first referred to the disciplinary committee following a senior staff meeting on Jan. 12, ahead of the second attempt by law enforcement officials to execute the arrest warrant against the president.
During the meeting, Kim Sung-hoon, deputy chief of the PSS and a known loyalist to Yoon, instructed officials to use force to block the execution of the arrest warrant. The dismissed official reportedly opposed the directive, arguing that obstructing a court-issued warrant could lead to legal complications.
Later in the same meeting, Kim accused the official of leaking secrets to the special investigation team under the National Office of Investigation (NOI), which is part of the Korean National Police Agency, and immediately placed him on standby. The PSS stated that the official had met with two NOI officials at a hotel and was confirmed to have shared internal information, including the locations of key military facilities. As a result, he was referred to the disciplinary committee on the same grounds.
Kim Sung-hoon, deputy chief of the Presidential Security Service, arrives for questioning at the National Office of Investigation located at the headquarters of the Seoul Metropolitan Police, Jan. 24. Yonhap
Although the accused official explained that he had only engaged in brief, casual conversation with police for about 30 minutes after the first failed arrest attempt — without exchanging sensitive information — his explanation failed to persuade the disciplinary committee to drop charges against him.
The PSS later issued a statement clarifying that the official was referred to the disciplinary committee due to his alleged leaking of classified information, not because of his opposition to directives during the meeting.
However, the PSS has remained tight-lipped about his dismissal, refusing to confirm the disciplinary committee's decision.
“The relevant procedures are still ongoing, and nothing has been finalized yet,” a PSS official said. “Detailed information cannot be disclosed as it is classified.”
Meanwhile, the police submitted their fourth request Monday afternoon for an arrest warrant for Kim, who is accused of obstructing the president's detention. The prosecution had previously rejected the police's requests for warrants for Kim on three separate occasions.