Suspected of 'Gobal Saju' Son Junsung Faces 2nd Detention Hearing Today... 1st Dismissed

Sohn Joon-sung, Human Rights Officer at Daegu High Prosecutors' Office / Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Son Junsung, the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office Human Rights Protection Officer (prosecutor) and the key suspect in the 'accusation inducement' scandal, is once again facing a detention hearing. This comes 37 days after the first arrest warrant requested by the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HCO) was dismissed by the court on October 26.

At 10:30 a.m. on the 2nd, Seo Bomin, the warrant-specialized chief judge at the Seoul Central District Court, is scheduled to hold a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant substantive examination) for Prosecutor Son to assess the necessity of detention. The decision on detention is expected to be made either that afternoon or early morning on the 3rd.

The HCO investigation team for the accusation inducement scandal (led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Yeo Woon-guk) re-requested an arrest warrant for Prosecutor Son on the 30th of last month. The charges against Son include abuse of authority, obstruction of the exercise of rights, disclosure of official secrets, violations of the Personal Information Protection Act, the Electronic Criminal Procedure Act, and the Public Official Election Act.

He is suspected of instructing affiliated prosecutors around April last year, when he was serving as the Investigation Information Policy Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, to draft accusation letters and collect supporting materials regarding passport holders and journalists, and of delivering the accusation letters to Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party (then a candidate for the United Future Party in the general election).

It was previously revealed that the first arrest warrant request, which was dismissed, did not specify any senior officials or the authors of the accusation letters who conspired with Prosecutor Son, instead listing them as unidentified persons, sparking controversy over the 'insufficient warrant.' It is understood that the HCO also failed to list former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl (currently the People Power Party presidential candidate), who was initially investigated alongside former Prosecutor Son, as a co-conspirator in the warrant.

On the other hand, the second arrest warrant request reportedly identified the authors and deliverers of the accusation letters as Prosecutors Seongmo and Immo, who were prosecutors in the Investigation Information Policy Office at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office at the time. It is also understood that the content in the first warrant request stating that Son conspired with unidentified senior prosecutors was omitted this time. This is interpreted as prioritizing proving Son's charges over the possibility of Yoon's involvement.

Prosecutor Son's side stated, "The HCO re-requested the warrant despite no significant change in circumstances after the warrant was dismissed, following renewed accusations by ruling party lawmakers," adding, "This clearly shows that the investigation has political motives." They also said, "After filing a quasi-appeal against the HCO's search and seizure procedures, the HCO immediately requested a warrant, and we feel judicial terror as they are trying to forcibly detain with retaliatory intent beyond the erosion of defense rights."

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