SEOUL, South Korea (news agencies) — South Korea’s acting leader on Friday accepted the resignation of the chief of the presidential security service, Park Jong-joon, as he faced police questioning over how his forces blocked law enforcement efforts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol last week.
The acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, also expressed regret over the clashes between law enforcement officials and the presidential security service and called for lawmakers to reach a bipartisan agreement to launch an independent investigation.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials and police are planning a second attempt to bring Yoon into custody as they jointly investigate whether his brief martial law declaration on Dec. 3 amounted to an attempted rebellion. The presidential security service blocked an earlier attempt to detain Yoon at his official residence, which he has not left for weeks.
It wasn’t immediately clear how Park’s resignation and Choi’s call for an independent investigation to take over the probe on Yoon would affect the push to bring Yoon into custody.
“The government has been deliberating to find a wise solution, but unfortunately, within our current legal framework, it’s difficult to find a clear resolution to end the conflict between the two agencies,” Choi said about the tensions between the anti-corruption office and presidential security service over Yoon’s potential detention.
“We urge the ruling and opposition parties to work together to agree on a bill to launch a special prosecutor investigation that is free from constitutional issues. This will naturally resolve the ongoing intense standoff.”
The main liberal opposition Democratic Party accused Choi of legitimizing Yoon’s refusal to comply with a court-issued warrant under the guise of neutrality.
“It amounts to a public declaration of support for the leader of a rebellion,” said Noh Jong-myun, a party lawmaker and spokesperson.
The Democrats and other opposition parties on Thursday introduced a bill calling for an independent investigation into allegations of rebellion against Yoon.
An earlier bill by the opposition proposing an independent investigation was scrapped after members of Yoon’s conservative party opposed a clause allowing only opposition parties to recommend special prosecutor candidates.
The conservatives also aren’t endorsing the new bill, which proposes that the Supreme Court’s chief justice recommend two candidates to Yoon, who would then select one as the special prosecutor. If Yoon refuses to appoint anyone, the older of the two candidates would automatically assume the role, according to the bill.
Park ignored two summonses before appearing for questioning on Friday over allegations of obstructing justice, a week after his forces repelled dozens of anti-corruption and police investigators from Yoon’s official residence. Park said his duty is to protect the president and warned of “bloodshed,” as critics said that his agency is becoming Yoon’s private army.
The embattled president remains holed up at his official residence in Seoul, where the presidential security service has fortified the grounds with barbed wire and rows of vehicles blocking the roads.
Yoon made a short-lived declaration of martial law and deployed troops to surround the National Assembly on Dec. 3, which lasted only hours before lawmakers managed to get through the blockade and voted to lift the measure.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14 and accused him of rebellion. His fate now rests with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberating on whether to formally remove Yoon from office or reject the charges and reinstate him.
A Seoul court on Tuesday issued a new warrant to the anti-corruption agency to detain Yoon after the previous one-week warrant expired. The agency and police have not publicly disclosed how long the new warrant will remain valid.
Speaking to reporters upon arriving for police questioning, Park again criticized the efforts to detain Yoon, saying that the investigation should proceed in a manner “appropriate for the status of an incumbent president” and the “dignity of the nation.”
“Many citizens are surely deeply concerned about the possible conflict and confrontation between government agencies,” Park said. “I came here today with the belief that under no circumstances should there be any physical clashes or bloodshed, and am hoping to prevent such incidents from occurring.”
Park said he made several calls to Choi, urging him to mediate an alternative approach with law enforcement and also made similar requests to Yoon’s lawyers, but did not receive a satisfactory response. The anti-corruption agency had also criticized Choi for refusing to instruct the presidential security service to cooperate with its execution of the detainment warrant.
While the presidential security act mandates protection for Yoon, it does not authorize the service to block court-ordered detainments and some legal experts say the presidential security service’s action last week may have been illegal.
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