The Korean National Police Agency's emergency martial law special investigation team conducted a search and seizure on the 27th at the presidential safe house in Samcheong-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, and the Presidential Security Service within the Presidential Office in Yongsan.
The special investigation team noted that it initiated the search and seizure that day to secure closed-circuit (CC) TV footage from the presidential safe house. However, in the case of the Presidential Office, the Security Service reportedly blocked the police investigators from entering, leading to a standoff.
The special investigation team had previously applied for a search and seizure warrant to obtain safe house CCTV footage, but the court dismissed it. The special investigation team reapplied for the warrant and received approval on the 19th.
After securing the footage, the special investigation team plans to identify who visited the safe house before and after the declaration of martial law. Based on this, they intend to verify what instructions they received from President Yoon. Korean National Police Agency Commissioner Jeong Jihu and Seoul National Police Agency Commissioner Kim Bong-sik met President Yoon at the safe house three hours before the martial law declaration on the 3rd and received documents related to martial law instructions.
On the 11th, the special investigation team also attempted a search and seizure at the Presidential Office and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but the Security Service blocked entry, citing official and military confidentiality. At that time, the special investigation team obtained only certain materials falling within the scope of the search warrant through voluntary submission. The search and seizure attempt at the Presidential Office on the 17th also failed due to lack of cooperation from the Security Service.