South Korea: Court rejects arrest warrant for ex-justice minister in martial law probe

Seoul, Oct 15 A Seoul court on Wednesday rejected a warrant to arrest former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae over his alleged role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed imposition of martial law.

The Seoul Central District Court said it denied the warrant sought by special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team, citing a lack of justification for an arrest or concerns about flight or evidence tampering.

It added that there was room for Park to dispute whether the actions he took violated the law.

Cho's team said it would file for Park's arrest warrant again, arguing that the court's dismissal was difficult to accept.

"The special counsel plans to take action to quickly receive a court decision again," assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said in a briefing.

Park, the former minister, has been accused by the team of playing a key role in an insurrection and abusing his power in connection with the martial law attempt in December.

Investigators believe Park helped Yoon's effort to impose martial law, such as by allegedly ordering the possible dispatch of a prosecutor to a joint investigation headquarters set up under the now dismantled martial law command.

He is also suspected of ordering the Korea Immigration Service to put a team on standby to impose travel bans on people arrested under martial law, and directing the Korea Correctional Service to secure space to incarcerate politicians and others.

Park's side has denied wrongdoing, saying the instructions were standard orders to prepare for eventualities, Yonhap news agency reported.

The latest decision comes after the court denied an arrest warrant sought against former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in August over his alleged role in Yoon's martial law declaration.

Earlier in the day, Yoon Suk Yeol voluntarily appeared before a special counsel team before investigators executed a warrant to bring him in by force.

The jailed former president was at special counsel Cho Eun-suk's office to be questioned about allegations related to his failed imposition of martial law, assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said during a press briefing.

Until Wednesday, Yoon had ignored all summonses by special counsel teams investigating various allegations surrounding him and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, following his second arrest in July.

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