Police to again file for arrest warrants for 2 Yoon aides

Kim Seong-hoon, acting chief of the Presidential Security Service, answers lawmakers' questions during a special committee meeting on President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived imposition of martial law at the National Assembly in Seoul, Jan. 22. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Police said Monday they are set to again apply for arrest warrants for two senior officials of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) accused of obstructing investigators' attempt to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

An official from the National Office of Investigation (NOI) said police have finalized preparations to detain acting PSS chief Kim Seong-hoon and Lee Kwang-woo, chief of the PSS's bodyguard division, and are set to present the applications to the prosecution later Monday.

Kim and Lee are accused of obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant for Yoon in January, taking unjust personnel actions and instructing subordinates to delete records of phone conversations between Yoon and military commanders involved in the Dec. 3 martial law declaration.

The prosecution previously rejected the police's request to seek arrest warrants for Kim three times and Lee two times. However, a warrant review panel from the Seoul High Prosecutors Office sided with the police on March 6, concluding it was appropriate for the prosecution to request arrest warrants for the two.

The police have conducted a supplementary investigation to justify the need to detain Kim and Lee, the NOI official said. (Yonhap)