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Police to refile for arrest warrants for two presidential security chiefs

Published: 17 Mar. 2025, 18:22

Presidential Security Service deputy chief Kim Seong-hoon speaks to reporters as he appears for police questioning at the National Office of Investigation in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, on Jan. 24. [NEWS1]

Police said Monday they again applied for arrest warrants for two senior officials of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) accused of obstructing investigators' attempt to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The National Office of Investigation (NOI) filed requests with the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office for warrants to detain acting PSS chief Kim Seong-hoon and Lee Kwang-woo, chief of the PSS's bodyguard division, according to its officials.

It marks the fourth and third time the police have sought arrest warrants for Kim and Lee, respectively.

Kim and Lee are accused of obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant for Yoon in January, taking unjust personnel actions and instructing subordinates to delete records of phone conversations between Yoon and military commanders involved in the Dec. 3 martial law declaration.

The prosecution previously rejected the police's request to seek arrest warrants for Kim and Lee. However, a warrant review panel from the Seoul High Prosecutors Office sided with the police on March 6, concluding it was appropriate for the prosecution to request arrest warrants for the two.

The police have conducted a supplementary investigation to justify the need to detain Kim and Lee, according to the NOI.

Yonhap