Kwon Chang-young's second special counsel team sought an arrest warrant for Gen.Kim Tae-young, head of the interior firm "21gram," which faces allegations related to the "presidential residence transfer," but the court rejected it.
According to legal sources on the 6th, the Seoul Central District Court on the 23rd of last month dismissed the arrest warrant the special counsel team requested for Kim on charges including abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights.
After holding a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (substantial warrant review), the court said it was "difficult to recognize the necessity and reasonableness of detention," explaining the grounds for dismissal.
The special counsel team is currently investigating Kim as an accomplice of former Presidential Office management secretary Kim Oh-jin, who was indicted by the Kim Keon-hee special counsel for abuse of authority, and of a former Presidential Office administrative officer surnamed Hwang. It also believes Kim, despite lacking a general construction license, improperly won the residence transfer project by leveraging ties with first lady Kim Keon-hee.
Separately, the special counsel team is also investigating allegations that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's Presidential Office illegally executed a budget to pay 21gram for the construction costs.
In connection with this, former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, former Presidential Office chief of staff Kim Dae-gi, former senior administrative officer for general affairs Yoon Jae-soon, and the former secretary Kim were sent to trial last month. They are accused of ordering the illegal diversion and execution of 2.09 billion won in state funds to pay the amount 21gram unilaterally calculated and demanded for the residence project.