Criminal complaints filed against YouTuber, local broadcasters for filming inside presidential residence compound during Friday's standoff
A YouTuber who claimed that President Yoon Suk Yeol fled his presidential residence during last week’s standoff between investigators and his security team has been accused of a security breach at a top-level government facility.
The presidential office said Monday that it has filed for a criminal complaint against the YouTuber for filming inside the presidential compound in Seoul and violating the Protection of Military Bases and Installations Act, which prohibits filming of top-level secured facilities. The same complaints were filed against local broadcasters who had also filmed Yoon's residence during the investigators’ failed attempt to arrest the impeached president over insurrection charges.
Officials, however, refused to verify claims about Yoon’s whereabouts raised by the YouTuber.
The YouTuber in question posted a short video, titled in Korean, "Full version of Kim Keon Hee walking a dog at the presidential residence revealed. Yoon Suk Yeol flees in a bulletproof car" on Saturday. The video shows two luxury sedans passing through a security barricade at around 8:28 a.m., heading toward an unconfirmed location. It also shows a woman walking her dog at around 10:20 a.m.
In the the video with some 1.3 million views as of Monday morning, the YouTuber purports that Yoon was inside the sedan and the woman walking the dog was the first lady. The video's poster said the sedan was exclusively used by the presidential couple and guards gave a formal salute to the moving vehicle, indicating the presence of passengers.
The video was filmed Friday, when the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials was attempting to execute an arrest warrant for Yoon, who is facing criminal charges of power abuse and insurrection connected to his Dec. 3 martial law declaration and related orders to military commanders.
Attempts to arrest Yoon were aborted after an hourslong standoff with the Presidential Security Service, after which the CIO requested that the court extend the warrant for president's arrest Monday.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
