The Presidential Security Service is facing additional criticism over its move to block the enforcement of an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, after it was revealed that its use of military personnel to do so came in the face of explicit opposition from the acting defense minister.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials on Friday said that personnel from the 55th Security Brigade of the Capital Defense Command were mobilized to block the execution of an arrest warrant for Yoon issued by the Seoul Western District Court.
The Presidential Security Service denies the 55th Security Brigade, which consists of conscripts, was used.
But the Defense Ministry disclosed on Saturday that acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho had expressed opposition to the use of the 55th Security Brigade by the Presidential Security Service during the CIO's attempt to detain Yoon. The operation failed after a nearly six-hour standoff Friday.
“Acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho stated, ‘It is inappropriate to deploy military forces to obstruct the CIO's execution of the arrest warrant,’ and requested the Presidential Security Service to avoid confrontation with the police,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“(Kim) also instructed the unit commander, stating, ‘There must be no physical clashes with the police,'” according to the statement.
The Defense Ministry explained that the security unit in the presidential residence area is primarily there to defend the perimeter of the residential grounds, as opposed to the buildings themselves.
“The Defense Ministry repeatedly requested the Presidential Security Service to ‘use the assigned security units in a manner aligned with their mission,’” Saturday's statement added.
The 55th Security Brigade has been tasked with the role in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, since Yoon moved his residence there in September 2022.
The unit is under the control of the Presidential Security Service, in accordance with Article 15 of the Presidential Security Act, which empowers the chief of the Security Service to request public officials from heads of national agencies to be dispatched for cooperative efforts.
"The unit currently in a standoff with the CIO at the presidential residence is a security unit under the control of the Presidential Security Service," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday.
The task force of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea investigating Yoon’s alleged insurrection said Sunday that most of the military and police personnel assigned to support the Presidential Security Service had withdrawn. Besides the Security Service's own staff, only "a handful" of military personnel remained onsite, it said, without elaborating on exactly how many.
The task force urged acting Defense Minister Kim promptly to issue return orders for the remaining military personnel stationed with the Presidential Security Service.
The Presidential Security Service, the CIO and the police are locked in a dispute over whether the 55th Security Brigade was actually deployed.
The Security Service denied reports that conscripted soldiers were mobilized.
The CIO however said Friday that military and security personnel had assembled at the third and final barrier, forming a human chain of around 200 individuals to obstruct investigators from enforcing the arrest warrant for Yoon.
The police on Saturday summoned the 55th Brigade commander as a witness to investigate claims of military involvement.
Both the chief and deputy of the Presidential Security Service on Saturday declined to appear for questioning in a police investigation into alleged obstruction of official duties related to blocking the execution of a warrant to detain Yoon.
The Presidential Security Service on Saturday explained that Chief Park Chong-jun and Deputy Chief Kim Sung-hoon could not leave their posts at this critical time due to their responsibilities ensuring the president's security.
