Prosecutors Oppose Cheong Wa Dae: "Search and Seizure Conducted Lawfully... Cheong Wa Dae Refused to Submit Documents"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the 10th, the prosecution issued a statement regarding the search and seizure conducted against the Blue House Office of Balanced Development Secretary, stating that it was "executed after obtaining a lawful warrant from the court." This was a rebuttal to the Blue House's criticism calling it an "excessive showy investigation."

In the late afternoon of the same day, the prosecution released a statement titled "Prosecution's Position on Today's Search and Seizure of the Presidential Secretariat."

The prosecution explained, "Regarding the case involving allegations of interference in the Ulsan local elections, we repeatedly requested voluntary submission of materials from the Presidential Secretariat, but were notified that most of the materials could not be submitted. Accordingly, we executed the search and seizure procedure based on a warrant."

They added, "The search warrant executed today was lawfully issued by the court specifying the 'place and items to be seized,' and based on a warrant with the same content, we had properly conducted a search and seizure at the National Balanced Development Committee office and others the previous day."

The prosecution stated, "During the execution of the warrant today, despite additionally providing a detailed list along with the court-issued search warrant to request the submission of materials, we were unable to receive the materials due to the reason that the scope of 'items to be seized' specified in the court-issued warrant was not clearly defined."

Furthermore, the prosecution pointed out that the Blue House's refusal to submit materials may pose legal issues under current law. "Under current law, places requiring military secrets cannot be searched or seized without the consent of the person responsible, but except in cases where significant national interests are harmed, refusal of consent is not permitted. On this day, the prosecution requested that if the warrant execution was refused, a written statement indicating the refusal of consent be submitted, but this was not received either," they emphasized.

Earlier that morning, the Public Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-eun) sent prosecutors and investigators to the Blue House Yeomin-gwan to conduct a search and seizure of materials produced by the Balanced Development Secretary related to Song Cheol-ho (71), the current mayor of Ulsan, including his public hospital campaign promises. However, the operation was halted around 6:20 p.m. due to the Blue House's refusal to submit materials. The prosecution suspects that Jang Hwan-seok, then Senior Administrative Officer of the Blue House Office of Balanced Development Secretary, assisted Mayor Song in designing his election pledges.

The Blue House expressed "regret" over this search and seizure. Go Min-jung, Blue House spokesperson, stated, "The prosecution brought a search warrant that was difficult to cooperate with even by voluntary submission. Attempting a search and seizure, which has never been permitted before, without trying possible procedures, is a 'showy investigation' carried out despite knowing it would not be realized, and we express strong regret over this."

The prosecution, whose execution of the search warrant was blocked today, said, "We plan to proceed with necessary consultations going forward."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.