Police reaffirmed their previous position that the application for and execution of the arrest warrant were lawful, in response to the opposition bloc's claim that the arrest of former Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission Lee Jin-suk was "orchestrated."
At a regular press briefing on the 27th, Park Sung-joo, head of the National Office of Investigation (NOI) at the Korean National Police Agency, when asked about criticism that the arrest of the former Chairperson was illegal, said, "This is not a situation where the lawfulness is in doubt."
Park said, "Because (the former Chairperson) did not comply with six appearance requests, the prosecution applied for an arrest warrant that (the police) requested under routine procedures, and the court issued it," adding, "As a rule, if there are more than three noncompliances, applying for an arrest warrant is the police investigation routine."
He went on, "We applied for an arrest warrant over three instances of noncompliance with appearance requests, but after the prosecution requested supplemental investigation, we issued additional appearance requests for the 4th, 5th, and 6th times," adding, "An interview with the person involved was necessary in connection with the statute of limitations for prosecution under the Public Official Election Act."
On the 17th, People Power Party lawmaker Joo Ho-young asked Yoo Jae-sung, acting commissioner of the Korean National Police Agency, at the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee audit of the agency, "(Regarding the former Chairperson) arrest warrants were sought three times starting Sept. 1; for what reason did you apply for them on the grounds of failure to appear while in office at the ministerial level?" He went on to claim an "orchestrated arrest," saying, "Fake appearance request letters were issued to leave an alibi that there were multiple summonses in the meantime. This is not something Yeongdeungpo Police Station could have done on its own."
When Yoo, the acting commissioner, answered to the effect that there were no issues with the appearance requests and the arrest warrant application process, Joo said, "A court-issued arrest warrant was obtained, but the process of obtaining it was not legitimate," adding, "You should not say there was no problem with the arrest just because the arrest warrant was issued."
Earlier, on the 17th, the former Chairperson wrote on Facebook, "No attorney had been retained, and three appearance request letters were sent while I had said that appearing in August was impossible due to schedules such as the National Assembly," adding, "In September, I said I would appear on the 27th, but if the prosecutor and the court had known that two 'fabricated' appearance request letters were sent before the 27th, would a warrant application and issuance have been made?"