South Korea’s security chief Yoon finds himself in the spotlight Via Reuters

Written by Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL (Reuters) – The man at the center of preventing investigators from arresting impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has emerged amid a political crisis sparked by Yoon’s brief declaration of martial law. last month.

Park Chong-jun, who reports directly to Yoon, intervened to resist investigators’ efforts on Friday to issue an arrest warrant to Yoon, resulting in a six-hour standoff. at Yoon’s legal residence.

Presidential guards and military forces prevented authorities from arresting Yoon on treason charges with a warrant, valid until Monday. The anti-theft team leading the investigation and the police said on Friday they were working on the next steps.

Yoon’s December 3 declaration of martial law shocked South Korea and led to his impeachment and suspension on December 14. The president’s political decision is in the hands of the Constitutional Court.

His legal fate is being fought by a series of law enforcement agencies against Yoon’s forces – Park is in a critical position.

Appointed by Yoon in September, Park has played a role in preventing investigators from executing search warrants for the president’s offices and residences, citing national security.

“The Presidential Security Service exists only for the full safety of security purposes,” said Park in a message on the service’s website, adding that its purpose is to protect the president “in time each” does not have to leave spaces.

He used those reasons to reject Friday’s attempt to arrest Yoon, on the grounds that investigators were violating security regulations and harming other security personnel.

‘OUT OF CONTROL’

Critics worry that Park’s service is excessive.

“The presidential security service is a dangerous institution whose power can get out of control,” said Han Seung-whoon, a law professor of police administration at Dongshin University.

“Since only the president has the power to control it, the security service can abuse the power and become the president’s private army.”

The anti-graft agency, the Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO), said it had to suspend arrest efforts on Friday due to fears for the safety of its employees.

Yoon’s security service and the forces under its command outnumbered the arrested commanders, the CIO said. At one point, it said Yoon’s people formed a chain of about 200 people to block Yoon’s access to his official residence, while buses and military vehicles were also used. as restrictions.

On Friday, police said they would investigate Park for possible obstruction of justice, asking him to appear for questioning. He denied this moment, saying that he will not be absent from work even for a second at this critical time.

Park and his deputy were in talks to give an answer to investigators at a later date, the security service said.

Police on Saturday asked him to appear on Tuesday.

Yoon’s lawyers argue that the CIO does not have the authority to investigate treason, which warrants illegal arrests.

The court approved the warrant, the first against a sitting president, on Tuesday after Yoon ignored repeated summonses for questioning.

THE SAME ARGUMENT

Critics of the presidential security service call it a relic from the days of South Korea’s powerful leaders, who ruled until the late 1980s.

It was placed under the direct control of the president during the military rule of the 1970s and 1980s, and is led by loyal aides who wield enormous power.

After the 2016 impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, lawmakers, who call the service “the brainchild of the authoritarian military regime”, proposed changes to transfer it to the police department.

They also wanted to lower the status of its king, but it seems that reform efforts were stopped.

Park’s predecessor in the presidential security service is Kim Yong-hyun, a close friend of Yoon, who resigned in September when he was appointed as defense minister.

Kim has since resigned and been indicted on charges of treason, accused of a key role in promoting and preparing for the martial law trial.

The announcement, which Yoon rescinded six hours later when the opposition-controlled parliament opposed him, bans political activity and seeks to control the media.

Park, a former top police officer who failed in two parliamentary bids in 2012 and 2016, graduated at the top of her class at Korea Police University, rising to become deputy head of the national police agency in 2011.

In 2012 he helped conservative Park Geun-hye in her successful presidential bid, and became the deputy head of her presidential defense until 2015.

At the time of Park Chong-jun’s appointment to head the presidential security service, Yoon’s chief of staff said he would help build an “advanced security system”.

The opposition wants him arrested for preventing Yoon’s arrest and called for an investigation into his role in the martial law announcement.

Before being questioned as a witness in the investigation into the publication, he denied the allegations, according to media reports.