The Marine Special Prosecutor's Office stated regarding the church search warrant, which has raised controversy over 'illegal and excessive investigation,' that it was executed as necessary during the investigation process and that there was no violation of legal procedures.
On the 26th, Special Prosecutor Jeong Min-young said during a morning briefing, 'Search warrants are basically executed with court approval to verify information related to the investigation target.' He added, 'We substantiated the necessity of the search to the court while applying for the warrant, and there were no violations of the legal procedures during the execution.'
The special prosecutor conducted a search at the residence of Lee Young-hoon, the senior pastor of the Yoido Full Gospel Church, and the church's boardroom on the 18th. Pastor Lee is known to have connections with Im Seong-geun, a former commander of the 1st Marine Division, through the Korean Assemblies of God Military Missions Committee, and the special prosecutor's team suspects that he was involved in Im's 'lobbying for acquittal.'
Regarding this search warrant, U.S. President Donald Trump said during the Korea-U.S. summit on the 25th, 'If that (the church search) is true, it would be very bad.'
During the briefing that day, when reporters asked, 'How does the special prosecutor perceive President Trump's remarks?' Special Prosecutor Jeong responded, 'It seems we do not have a response to that.'
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor stated that they had mostly completed the forensics and evidence analysis of the seized items from the previous church search and would soon proceed with summons investigations of the related individuals.