CIO requests arrest warrant for President Yoon from court

[Anchor]

Attention is increasing regarding the background of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials(CIO)' decision to launch a sudden forced investigation against President Yoon.

It is analyzed that the fact that President Yoon's side has essentially remained unresponsive despite three summons notifications played a significant role.

Next, we have a report from Jin Sun-min.

[Report]

The CIO's deadline for President Yoon Suk Yeol's attendance, set for the third time, was yesterday (12.29).

Ultimately, as President Yoon refused to attend, at midnight when the date changed to today (12.30), the CIO swiftly requested an arrest warrant from the court.

They had sent attendance requests three times on the 18th, 25th, and yesterday, but it seems that President Yoon's side even refused to receive them.

The CIO has decided to forcibly secure the president's physical presence, believing that President Yoon, who is a suspect in the charge of insurrection, did not respond to the attendance request without justifiable reasons.

[Kim Kyung-soo/KBS Advisory Lawyer: "In ordinary cases where there have been three refusals to summon, the likelihood of an arrest warrant being issued is high. However, there are variables due to issues of investigative jurisdiction and the special status of the president..."]

Last week, the prosecution indicted former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and included President Yoon's charges of insurrection in the indictment.

It seems that the CIO, which has already received the case from the prosecution, has also judged that there is less justification to further delay a direct investigation.

However, there are various interpretations regarding why the CIO requested the arrest warrant from the Seoul Western District Court instead of the legally designated Seoul Central District Court.

Some interpret it as a decision made while weighing the possibility of warrant issuance, but the CIO explained that they could file a case in the jurisdictional court considering the location of the crime or evidence, mentioning that the presidential residence is located in the jurisdiction of the Seoul Western District Court in Yongsan-gu.

This is KBS News, Jin Sun-min.