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Troops will not be allowed to help prevent Yoon's arrest, says Defense Ministry

Published: 09 Jan. 2025, 16:06

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho leaves a press briefing held at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Dec. 6, 2024. [NEWS1]

The Defense Ministry will not allow troops from the Army’s Capital Defense Command to help President Yoon Suk Yeol resist arrest, a ministry official told reporters on Thursday.

According to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho told the Presidential Security Service (PSS) that it is “not appropriate to contribute military forces to efforts aimed at preventing the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) from executing its arrest warrant.”

The acting defense minister also told the Capital Defense Command’s 55th Guard Corps that it must “not be involved in any physical altercations with police,” the official said.

In response, the PSS told Kim it “understands” his position.

The Defense Ministry official said the 55th Guard Corps would be unlikely to take part in future efforts to prevent Yoon’s arrest following the exchange between Kim and the PSS.

When the CIO attempted to detain Yoon on Jan. 3, service members from the 55th Guard Corps controversially helped PSS agents block investigators from entering the presidential residence.

Under the Presidential Security Act, the 55th Guard Corps falls under the command of the PSS despite being an Army division as its main mission is to secure the area surrounding the presidential residence.

As such, the PSS was able to order the division to prevent CIO investigators from taking Yoon into custody.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]