Police Seek Arrest Warrants for Presidential Security Officials

On January 24, the Special Investigation Unit of the National Police Agency announced that it has applied for pre-arrest warrants for Kim Seong-hoon, the Deputy Chief of the Presidential Security Service, and Lee Kwang-woo, the Chief of the Security Headquarters, at the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office.

The police summoned both officials for questioning at 7:30 AM on the same day. Kim and Lee, identified as hardliners within the security service, were arrested by police on January 17 and 18 for allegedly obstructing the first execution of an arrest warrant against President Yoon Suk-yeol on January 3.

While the police applied for an arrest warrant for Kim on January 18, the prosecution rejected it, citing a lack of concerns regarding evidence destruction, leading to his release. Lee was also released on January 19 and has since returned to his security duties.

During the second attempt to execute the arrest warrant against President Yoon, the police gathered testimonies from security service staff indicating that Kim and Lee had prepared firearms. In response, the legal representatives of Kim and Lee stated that they were merely preparing for security reasons due to reports of potential attacks from union protestors.