Special counsel teams defend raids on church, air base after Trump remarks
Assistant special counsel Choung Min-young speaks during a press briefing at the special counsel team’s office in Seoul, July 18. Yonhap
Two special counsel teams on Tuesday defended their raids on a church and a military base, saying they did not violate any laws, after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed concern about their activities.
On Monday, Trump told reporters before his summit with President Lee Jae Myung in Washington that he had heard about "very vicious raids on churches" in South Korea, and "that they even went into a military base and got information."
The remarks appeared to be in part referring to a raid conducted by special counsel Lee Myeong-hyeon's team against Yoido Full Gospel Church last month as part of its investigation into alleged government interference in a military probe into a Marine's death in 2023.
Assistant special counsel Choung Min-young defended the raid, noting his team had received a court-issued warrant.
"We explained the need for a search as we filed for the warrant, and there have been no legal violations in its execution," Choung said in a briefing.
The team suspects that Rev. Lee Young-hoon, a senior pastor at the church, had close ties to an initial suspect of the 2023 military probe, who was later cleared after the alleged government interference.
Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team, which is investigating former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed attempt to impose martial law in December, also defended its raid on the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, in July.
The base is jointly run by the South Korean military and U.S. Forces Korea, and the raid was conducted as part of an investigation into allegations Yoon ordered the dispatch of drones to North Korea last year to incite the regime's retaliation and use it as a pretext for imposing martial law.
"The material seized in the raid was under the supervision of only the South Korean military and had nothing to do with the U.S. military," assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said during a press briefing. "I understand that the U.S. military did not take issue with or protest about the raid."
Meanwhile, Lee Myeong-hyeon's team notified President Lee and the National Assembly of its decision to extend its investigation period by 30 more days until Sept. 29.
Under a special counsel bill passed in June, the investigation can run for up to 140 days, including its preparation period.
The team said it has also expressed a need to the National Assembly to revise the special counsel law so that its investigation can run for longer.