On the 28th, the special prosecutor for insurrection applied for an arrest warrant for former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min.
Special prosecutor Park Ji-young noted during a regular briefing that an arrest warrant had been requested for former Minister Lee on charges of engaging in crucial insurrection tasks, interfering with the exercise of authority, and perjury, stating that the seriousness of the crime, the risk of evidence destruction, and the possibility of reoffending were taken into consideration.
Former Minister Lee is accused of having ordered the National Fire Agency to cut off power to specific media outlets, including MBC, JTBC, Hankyoreh, and Kyunghyang, at the instruction of former President Yoon Suk-yeol on December 3rd of last year. The special prosecutor has secured evidence of the circumstances under which former Minister Lee received documents containing the instruction from former President Yoon and relevant phone records indicating that he directed then-Fire Agency Commissioner Heo Seok-gon.
However, former Minister Lee denied the accusation, stating during the impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court that he had seen a paper note from afar in the presidential office but had never accurately seen any documents detailing the power cut.
In this regard, the special prosecutor applied the charges of engaging in crucial insurrection tasks based on the circumstances indicating that former Minister Lee attempted to carry out the order related to martial law along with perjury charges.
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor executed a search and seizure at former Minister Lee's residence, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and the Fire Agency Commissioner's office on the 17th. On the 25th, the special prosecutor summoned former Minister Lee as a suspect and interrogated him for approximately 18 hours and 40 minutes.