Letter from ex-Defense Minister

[Anchor]

The side of President Yoon Suk Yeol has repeatedly issued statements, reiterating that the execution of the arrest warrant is an act of insurrection.

Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun even wrote a handwritten letter to make this claim; what does the law say about it?

Reporter Lee Ho-jun looked into this matter.

[Report]

This is the handwritten letter released by former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun.

He stated that the attempt to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol is illegal and referred to it as an "act of insurrection."

The statement issued by President Yoon's legal team also includes the phrase, "An illegal attempt to arrest the President, the highest constitutional institution, is insurrection."

They claim that the Corruption Investigation Office, which does not have the authority to investigate insurrection, and the court that issued the illegal warrant, have the purpose of "disrupting the national constitution," and the police's attempt to mobilize a large number of personnel to arrest the sitting president corresponds to a riot that excludes state power.

In the legal community, there are evaluations that describing the execution of a lawfully issued arrest warrant as insurrection is a strained argument.

[Kim Seon-taek/Professor at Korea University Law School: "How can the execution of a warrant issued by the judiciary by the South Korean police be considered a riot? The process of executing a warrant is the exercise of the state's criminal justice power."]

There are also opinions that President Yoon, who has a duty to uphold the constitution, should comply with the execution of the warrant, which is part of the judicial process.

[Lee Hwang-hee/Professor at Sungkyunkwan University Law School/Former Constitutional Court Rapporteur Judge: "If the court issued the warrant saying there is no problem, then adhering to it is the most basic attitude that a president, who has declared to uphold the constitution, should have."]

President Yoon Suk Yeol swore to uphold the constitution at his inauguration three years ago.

It is pointed out that even if there are differing opinions, disputes should occur within the framework of the rule of law.

KBS News, Lee Ho-jun.