Security clashes loom over Pres. Yoon's arrest

[Anchor]

Tensions are rising over whether to execute an arrest warrant for President Yoon.

To execute the arrest warrant, it is necessary to meet President Yoon, who is at the residence.

To do this, one must break through multiple layers of security.

First, the outer perimeter of the residence is guarded by the '202nd Police Security Unit.'

Inside the residence, the Presidential Security Service and the Capital Defense Command troops are in charge.

The Security Service has already stated that they will take 'legitimate security measures.'

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials claims that the Security Service has no legal grounds to prevent the execution of the warrant, but if investigators' entry is seen as 'interference with presidential security duties,' they may use weapons.

The side of President Yoon, which has argued that the arrest warrant is invalid within this 'security wall', protested today (1.2) that police support for the execution of the warrant is also illegal.

Reporter Choi Min-young has investigated the facts of the matter.

[Report]

As protests continue in front of the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials is considering deploying police riot units.

President Yoon Suk Yeol's legal team argued that the support of the riot units is illegal.

They stated that the arrest warrant must be executed directly by prosecutors and investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, and that the police riot units should not directly carry out arrests or searches.

They further claimed that for the police riot units to execute the warrant, the prosecutors from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials must have investigative command authority over the police, but there is no such provision in the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials Act.

In response, the police issued a brief official statement saying they would ensure that no legal issues arise.

However, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials believes that requesting support from the police agency based on Article 17 of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials Act is permissible.

Most legal experts view that support from the riot units for maintaining order does not pose significant legal issues.

[Kim Kyung-soo/KBS Advisory Lawyer: "The execution of the arrest warrant will be carried out by prosecutors or investigators from the joint investigation headquarters, while the police riot units will maintain order at the scene."]

President Yoon's legal team has stated that if the riot units attempt to execute the warrant, they could be arrested by the Security Service as well as by citizens, raising concerns about this situation.

[Han Sang-hoon/Professor at Yonsei University Law School: "It sounds like a message to arrest the police (attempting to execute the arrest warrant). It's a form of obstruction of public duty. If they actually make an arrest, it could lead to separate charges of illegal arrest and detention...."]

The police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials are expected to finalize discussions on the role of the police riot units in the execution of the arrest warrant soon.

This is KBS News, Choi Min-young.