President Yoon Suk-yeol has been additionally booked by the police on charges of obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant against him.
According to the police on the 21st, President Yoon is currently under suspicion of special obstruction of official duties.
President Yoon attended the 8th constitutional impeachment hearing at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 13th.
On the 3rd of last month, when the arrest warrant against him was being executed, President Yoon exchanged text messages via the U.S. messenger app “Signal” with Kim Sung-hoon, Deputy Chief of the Presidential Security Service. The app is known for its high security due to its encryption.
Furthermore, it is reported that on the 7th of the same month, Yoon also instructed Deputy Chief Kim via message to have the security team actively intervene in the event of a second arrest attempt.
Deputy Chief Kim conveyed these arrest obstruction instructions to his staff; however, during the execution of the second arrest warrant on January 15, the security staff’s noncompliance ultimately led to President Yoon’s arrest.
Meanwhile, Article 84 of the Constitution specifies that “the President shall not be charged with a criminal offense during his tenure of office except for insurrection or treason.”
Thus, while President Yoon has been booked for obstruction of official duties, he will not be criminally prosecuted for this charge.