Pres. Yoon's side disputes Corruption Investigation Office's authority

[Anchor]

President Yoon's side has claimed that the Corruption Investigation Office(CIO) does not have the authority to investigate charges of insurrection, asserting that the investigation itself is illegal.

There are criticisms that the Corruption Investigation Office, which originally had many loopholes, is becoming an obstacle, and it is also argued that President Yoon, who previously served as the head of the prosecution, is exploiting these loopholes.

Kim Beom-joo reports.

[Report]

President Yoon's side argues that the request for an arrest warrant from the Corruption Investigation Office, which does not have the authority to investigate insurrection charges, is illegal.

In fact, the Corruption Investigation Office does not include insurrection charges as part of its investigation targets.

The CIO maintains that it can investigate related crimes of abuse of power, but there are criticisms that the law aimed at preventing high-ranking public official crimes has many loopholes from the beginning.

The investigation into President Yoon is currently centralized under the Corruption Investigation Office.

However, the president is actually excluded from the list of individuals subject to prosecution under the CIO Act.

Additionally, the law does not specify the duration for which CIO prosecutors can detain suspects.

This has led to an absurd situation where the prosecution had to negotiate the detention period for Defense Intelligence Commander Moon Sang-ho.

This has brought about concerns that the law, intended to support investigations, is becoming an obstacle to swift action.

[Cha Jin-ah/Professor at Korea University Law School: "When an incident occurs, it is actually difficult to know which investigative agency has the investigative authority. Even if there is investigative authority, if there is no prosecutorial authority, what kind of situation is this?"]

There are also criticisms regarding President Yoon, who stated through a statement that he would not evade legal responsibility, yet continues to refuse to respond to summons and did not appoint legal representation for a while.

[Kim Seon-taek/Professor at Korea University Law School: "Given that he is the sitting president, and he said he would not evade legal responsibility, wouldn't it be right for him to come forward and respond to the investigation?"]

President Yoon, upon resigning as Prosecutor General in 2021, wrote in his farewell speech that if those in power raise issues over minor procedures and evidence-gathering processes, he would protect the spirit of the Constitution and the rule of law.

KBS News, Kim Beom-joo.