CIO to reapply for extension of presidential arrest warrant

[Anchor]

Good evening, everyone.

This is KBS 9 o'clock news.

Today (1.6) is the last day of the arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, but the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) did not take any action.

Instead, they have sought to extend the deadline by reapplying for the warrant.

First, let's connect to the CIO.

Reporter Jin Sun-min, the original deadline was until midnight today, right?

If the deadline is extended, do they have a plan for enforcement this time?

[Report]

Yes, that's correct.

However, the CIO re-applied for the warrant at around 6:30 PM today at the Seoul Western District Court, just before the expiration of the arrest warrant.

This is to extend the validity period of the arrest warrant.

However, they did not disclose the validity period of this arrest warrant, but it is reported that they requested a period of more than 7 days from the court in case of unforeseen circumstances.

Since the execution of the arrest warrant was suspended last Friday, the CIO has not taken any further action.

Today, the CIO explained that they did not anticipate the resistance from the Presidential Security Service at that time.

CIO Deputy Director Lee Jae-seung expressed regret that "the execution was delayed," but stated that they did not expect the Security Service to strongly obstruct the enforcement of a lawful warrant.

Currently, the CIO is contemplating future response measures.

Even if the warrant period is extended, they are discussing countermeasures in case the Presidential Security Service does not cooperate as before.

There are also criticisms that the CIO lacks investigative will.

The deputy director stated, "Just because we failed once, it doesn't mean we will end it here," and said they would proceed with the arrest warrant process until it is determined that enforcement is impossible.

Meanwhile, the CIO has sent an official document requesting the acting president Choi Sang-mok to direct the Security Service to cooperate, but Deputy Director Lee said that Oh Dong-woon, the head of the CIO, attempted to contact the acting president, but it did not happen.

This has been Jin Sun-min from the Corruption Investigation Office, KBS News.