The court on the 3rd rejected the arrest warrant sought by the special counsel on insurrection for former People Power Party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho.
The broader pro-ruling bloc, including the Democratic Party of Korea, is widely expected to push ahead with legislation to pressure the courts, such as moving to establish a dedicated insurrection bench.
Lee Jeong-jae, the presiding judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, held a pre-arrest interrogation (substantive warrant review) of the former floor leader, who is accused of serving in a key role in insurrection, for nearly nine hours from 3 p.m. on the 2nd. Then, around 4:50 a.m. on the 3rd, the judge rejected the arrest warrant, citing reasons such as "there is room for dispute over the charges and legal principles, so it is appropriate to conduct a careful and thorough courtroom battle and then render a commensurate judgment and punishment; there is a need to allow the exercise of the right to defense with the assistance of counsel while not in custody; and it is difficult to see a risk of flight or evidence destruction."
Around 12:03 a.m. on the 3rd, after finishing the substantive warrant review, the former floor leader, asked by reporters how he explained the charges, said, "I answered faithfully," and added, "I expect a fair judgment from the court," before moving to the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi. With the warrant rejected, he was not detained in the detention center and went home.
At about 2:19 p.m. the previous day, the former floor leader appeared at the Seoul Central District Court and said, "I expect a fair judgment from the court without political bias." He did not answer questions such as "When did you first know about martial law?", "There are People Power Party lawmakers who were actually obstructed from voting; do you have anything to say to them?", and "What is your position to the public?"
At the substantive warrant review, the special counsel and the former floor leader's side were said to have engaged in heated arguments over whether he obstructed the vote to lift martial law. The special counsel prepared a 618-page opinion, 123 pages of attachments, and a 304-slide PowerPoint for the review. Seven dispatched prosecutors, including special counsel deputy Park Eok-su and Director General prosecutor Choi Jae-sun, took part. The former floor leader's side also reportedly formed a six-member defense team, including attorney Choi Gi-sik, a former prosecutor.
The special counsel argued that the former floor leader sought to obstruct People Power Party lawmakers from participating in the vote in order to cooperate with former President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of emergency martial law, while the former floor leader's side countered that they merely changed the venue for the party caucus in light of the situation in which the National Assembly was being controlled.
At the warrant review, the special counsel was said to have argued that around 11:22 p.m. on the day martial law was declared, after receiving a phone call from the former president asking for cooperation with emergency martial law, the former floor leader changed the caucus venue three times to prevent People Power Party lawmakers from joining the vote to lift martial law.
The special counsel also reportedly cited as grounds for arrest that before receiving the former president's call, the former floor leader recognized the illegality, such as by being told through calls with then Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs Hong Cheol-ho and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo that all Cabinet members opposed martial law, yet did not inform other lawmakers.
By contrast, the former floor leader was said to have countered that the special counsel sought a warrant based on a "made-to-fit" theory despite no clear evidence that he actually supported martial law or obstructed the vote.
The former floor leader was said to have argued that in the call, the former president merely conveyed the gist of "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the contents of the statement in advance," and that the special counsel's claim he requested cooperation with martial law is "fortune-teller-style mind reading that ignores clear contrary evidence."
With the investigation period ending on the 14th of this month, the special counsel is considering indicting the lawmaker without physical detention rather than refiling an arrest warrant. Some had expected probes into whether other People Power Party lawmakers were accomplices, but on the day, special counsel deputy Park Ji-young said, "It does not seem likely we will expand into additional investigations of other accomplices, and so on."
With the warrant request rejected that day, the Democratic Party and others may push through bills to pressure the courts under the banner of "judicial reform," including ▲ a dedicated insurrection bench ▲ more Supreme Court justices ▲ an offense of legal distortion ▲ a right to petition for trial ▲ abolition of the National Court Administration.