The prosecution and police are showing signs of a power struggle over the emergency arrest of Intelligence Commander Moon Sang-ho. After the police made the arrest on the 15th, the prosecution stated on the 16th that they "disapproved the emergency arrest." In response, the police expressed regret over the prosecution's disapproval and noted that they will continue to conduct a thorough investigation.
On the 16th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office stated, "Considering the investigation and arrest situation related to the emergency arrest of the active duty soldier (Intelligence Commander Moon Sang-ho), this emergency arrest violates the jurisdiction regulations of the Military Court Act, so the approval of the police's emergency arrest proposal was disapproved." The Criminal Procedure Act specifies that when the police make an emergency arrest of a suspect, the prosecutor's approval must be obtained.
In response, the police's National Investigation Headquarters Emergency Martial Law Special Investigation Team distributed a text message to the media, countering the prosecution's disapproval measure.
In the text message, the police stated, "The prosecution disapproved the emergency arrest proposal for the Intelligence Commander on the grounds that the 'jurisdiction' lies with the military court, not the investigation rights," while noting that "the police have 'investigation rights' for active duty soldiers and are the explicit investigation body for the crime of rebellion, hence the emergency arrest was made due to its urgency and necessity." They further expressed regret over the prosecution's disapproval and stated that the Emergency Martial Law Special Investigation Team will continue to conduct a thorough investigation.
Regarding this, the legal community responded by suggesting, "Could it be that the prosecution and police are rekindling their long-standing dispute over investigative rights while competitively investigating the martial law-related rebellion charges?"
One legal expert remarked, "The prosecution's disapproval measure may appear as if 'the police are conducting an unreasonable investigation without proper knowledge of the law,'" adding that "it might be difficult for the police to accept it in the current situation."
Another legal expert commented, "While it is urgent to clarify the facts regarding martial law and rebellion charges, it is undesirable for investigative agencies to be in a power struggle over the matter."