South Korea’s security chief spoke to Reuters

By Hyunjo Jin

SEOUL (Reuters) – The man central to preventing investigators from arresting South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has found himself in the spotlight amid a political crisis sparked by Yoon’s brief declaration of martial law last month.

Yoon’s direct report, Park Chong-joon, was instrumental in rejecting investigators’ attempts to serve an arrest warrant on Yoon on Friday, resulting in a six-hour standoff at Yoon’s official residence.

Presidential guards and military troops have prevented authorities from arresting Yoon for allegedly rebelling against the warrant, which remains in effect until Monday. The anti-corruption agency, which is leading the investigation along with the police, announced on Friday that it was working on its next steps.

Yoon’s declaration of martial law on December 3 shocked South Korea, leading to his resignation and suspension from office on December 14. The president’s political fate rests in the hands of the Constitutional Court.

His legal fate is being fought by multiple law enforcement agencies against Yoon’s forces – with Park at the helm.

Park, who was appointed by Yoon in September, played a role in preventing the execution of search warrants for the president’s offices and residences, citing national security.

In a message posted on the service’s website, Park said, “The Presidential Security Service’s mission is to protect the president, no matter what. He said no loopholes should be left.

He used that reasoning to reject efforts to arrest Yoon on Friday, saying investigators were overstepping the bounds of security rules and harming some security personnel.

‘out of control’

Critics worry that the park service is excessive.

“The presidential security service is a dangerous institution whose powers can get out of control,” said Han Seung-won, a professor of police management law at Dongshin University.

“Since only the president has the power to control, the security services can abuse their power and become the president’s personal army.”

The anti-graft agency, the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), said it had to call off Friday’s arrest attempt out of fear for the safety of its staff.

Yun’s security services and troops under his control outnumbered the arrested officials, the CIO said. At one point, Yun’s men formed a chain of about 200 to block access to Yun and his official residence, with buses and military vehicles serving as barriers.

On Friday, police said they would investigate Park for possible obstruction of justice, calling for questioning. He refused for the moment, saying that he could not walk away from work even for a moment during this stressful time.

Park and his deputy were discussing how to respond to the investigators at a later date, the security agency said.

The police asked him to appear on Tuesday on Saturday.

Yoon’s lawyers argued the warrant was illegal because he lacked jurisdiction to investigate the CIO’s rebellion.

A court on Tuesday approved the warrant, the first against the president, after Yun ignored repeated subpoenas for questioning.

A controversial story

Critics of the president’s security services call it a holdover from South Korea’s strongman era that ruled until the late 1980s.

In the year During the military rule of the 1970s and 1980s, it fell under the direct control of the president and was run by highly-powered trusted aides.

In the year After the impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye in 2016, lawmakers called the service the “brain of a dictatorial military regime” and proposed changes to move it into a police agency.

They also tried to demote the chief, but the reform efforts seem to have stalled.

Park’s predecessor in the presidential security service is Kim Yong-hyun, a close ally of Yoon, who resigned in September when he was appointed defense minister.

Kim later resigned and was charged with sedition, having played a key role in advising and preparing for the martial law trial.

The statement, which was revoked six hours later when the opposition-controlled parliament voted against him, outlawed political activity and sought to control the media.

In the year Park, a former top police official who made two unsuccessful bids for parliament in 2012 and 2016, graduated at the top of Korea’s National Police University and became deputy chief of the National Police Agency in 2011.

In the year In 2012, he helped the conservative Park Geun-hye succeed in his bid for the presidency, then became the deputy head of security for the president until 2015.

When Park Chong-joon was appointed to head the Presidential Security Service, Yoon’s chief of staff said he would help build a “superior security system.”

The opposition called for Yeon’s arrest for denying his arrest and an investigation into his alleged role in the martial law declaration.

Earlier in that statement, he was questioned as a witness in an investigation, and denied the charges, according to media reports.