Hong Joon-pyo: "If Due Process Was Violated, All Investigations of Treason Charges Are Invalid"

by Kim Eunha

Published 12 Jan.2025 18:45(KST)

Updated 13 Jan.2025 07:17(KST)

"My Country Has Become Lawless Like Africa... Regrettable"

Hong Jun-pyo, the mayor of Daegu, argued that if the request for an arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol on charges of treason by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) is not lawful, then the treason investigation should be nullified.

On the 12th, Mayor Hong wrote on Facebook, "If the arrest warrant for President Yoon, raised by some, was dismissed by the Seoul Central District Court or was returned without legal basis and then re-requested to a specific judge belonging to the Woori Law Research Association at the Seoul Western District Court, resulting in the issuance of a warrant through judge legislation that does not exist in law, then not only the head of the CIO and the judge but also the head of the National Police Agency suspected of colluding with the Democratic Party have committed serious crimes."

Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu. Photo by Yonhap News

He also warned, "The guilt of the senior official of the Court Administration Office who avoided answering questions from lawmakers by citing ongoing investigations will not be free from suspicion of complicity." In particular, he said, "If even the judiciary has violated such due process, then the treason investigation conducted so far loses its legitimacy and should all be nullified."

Mayor Hong added, "Truly absurd incidents are occurring one after another. A country where the world is controlled by criminals is a lawless country that could only be found in Africa on Earth," and said, "It is truly regrettable that my country is treated like such a country."

Earlier, on the 10th, Yoon Sang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, held a press conference at the National Assembly and claimed, "There is suspicion that after the CIO's arrest warrant for President Yoon was dismissed by the Seoul Central District Court, they colluded with the Seoul Western District Court to re-request the warrant through an irregular method," adding, "They obtained an ultra-constitutional warrant from a left-leaning judge."