CIO faces hurdles in executing arrest warrant

[Anchor]

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials has chosen to extend the deadline for the arrest warrant among various options, including applying for a detention warrant.

They are also considering a stronger approach for the next execution of the warrant.

Reporter Kim Young-hoon analyzes why this choice was made.

[Report]

The Corruption Investigation Office stated that once a warrant is issued, execution is the principle.

[Oh Dong-woon/Director of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials/Jan. 1: "We recognize that barricading and locking iron doors to avoid the execution of an arrest warrant itself constitutes obstruction of official duties."]

However, after failing to execute the warrant and on the last day of its validity, Director Oh Dong-woon remained silent in response to reporters' questions.

[Oh Dong-woon/Director of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials/Jan. 6: "(Director, why did you hand over the warrant execution to the police? Isn't it essentially giving up?)..."]

Ultimately, the choice of the CIO was to extend the warrant's validity through a reapplication for an arrest warrant.

It seems that the possibility of rejection was considered because a detention warrant requires a more stringent examination of the charges than an arrest warrant.

In particular, the fact that they could not directly investigate key suspects, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, adds to the burden for the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials.

On the other hand, in the case of an arrest warrant, since it has already been issued once, extending the deadline is not difficult.

However, if the Presidential Security Service intervenes again, it remains uncertain whether the execution will be successful.

The police are also considering deploying the police special forces, which were not used during the first execution, and arresting the security service personnel who obstruct the execution.

This is KBS News, Kim Young-hoon.