Court holds arrest warrant hearing for ex-prosecutor general over alleged martial law role
Former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung, center, arrives at special counsel Kwon Chang-young's office in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, Friday, for questioning over his alleged role in martial law. Newsis
An arrest warrant hearing was held Thursday for former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung over his alleged involvement in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid.
The former prosecution chief is suspected of having reviewed dispatching prosecutors to a joint martial law investigation body on Dec. 3, 2024, the night the ousted president declared martial law.
Special counsel Kwon Chang-yong's team believes such a move came at the instruction of then Justice Minister Park Sung-jae, who had three phone calls with Shim on the night of the martial law declaration.
Shim is also accused of overriding the prosecution's internal recommendations in March last year to appeal a court order to release Yoon from a detention center, following a court ruling that his detention had been invalid due to questions about the legality of the investigation and the exact time the prosecution filed its indictment.
Kwon's team filed for an arrest warrant for Shim on Tuesday. Park, the former justice minister, was convicted and sentenced to a 25-year prison term by the Seoul district court in June.
"We found multiple reasons to seek the warrant based on a careful review of gathered evidence," assistant special counsel Kwon Young-bin said.
The court was expected to have its decision on whether to arrest the former prosecutor general as early as later Thursday.
A separate arrest warrant hearing was scheduled also later in the day for former senior prosecutor Jeon Moo-gon, who is accused of assisting Shim while serving as head of the Supreme Prosecutors Office's policy planning division.