Prosecutors Reject Arrest Warrant for Kim Seonghun, Security Chief Who Blocked Yoon's Arrest, for the Third Time

The prosecution has once again rejected the arrest warrants for Kim Seong-hoon, Deputy Chief of the Presidential Security Service, and Lee Kwang-woo, Chief of the Security Headquarters, who are accused of obstructing the arrest of President Yoon Seok-yeol. This is the third rejection of the arrest warrant for Deputy Chief Kim and the second for Chief Lee.

Kim Seong-hoon, Deputy Director of the Presidential Security Service. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the National Police Agency on the 18th, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office rejected the arrest warrants for Deputy Chief Kim and Chief Lee, who are accused of obstruction of special official duties, abuse of authority under the Criminal Act, and abuse of authority under the Presidential Security Act.

The prosecution judged that there is room for dispute regarding the criminal facts stated in the arrest warrant application submitted by the police and each charge, and it is difficult to definitively conclude that there is a risk of evidence destruction based on the recognition of the charges.

They are accused of obstructing the execution of President Yoon's arrest warrant on the 3rd of last month. Deputy Chief Kim is also suspected of contacting the server administrator of the presidential office's confidential phone to instruct the deletion of call records.

A police official said, "We will review the reasons for non-prosecution and consider the future direction," adding, "The decision to transfer the case to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) will be made after an internal meeting."

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