Refuse to read and seal the record..."Request for an Investigation of Appropriateness of Arrest to the Seoul Central District Court"

■ Host: Anchor Lee Jung-seop, Anchor Cho Ye-jin
■ Starring: Lawyer Lee Go-eun

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News Special] when quoting.


[Anchor]
Yoon Suk Yeol's president was arrested 43 days after declaring emergency martial law. Let's take a closer look at the investigation and other related details with lawyer Lee Go-eun. Please come in. Let's take a closer look at the investigation. Yesterday's investigation ended at 9:40. It lasted for about 11 hours, but you continued to exercise the North American territory, which is the right to refuse to make a statement?

{이고}First of all, it was reported that he did not comply with the warrant recording despite proposing a video recording. In addition, the investigation was conducted for a fairly long period of more than 10 hours, but despite the fact that the questionnaire was actually about 200 pages, all of them exercised the right to refuse to state. There are reports that even President Yoon Suk Yeol's lawyer did not make any statements. So, it's a part that makes sense that the investigation itself was a little uncooperative. Anyway, I think the prosecutor of the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit continued to ask questions. In response to that question, President Yoon Suk Yeol did not answer both detailed and overall questions, and the investigation concluded.

[Anchor]
It has been reported that he refused to record the video and even to read and seal the record. What was the intention?

{이고}If the signature or seal of the suspect's interrogation report is omitted, the suspect's interrogation report shall not be given the ability to testify. When I investigate while working as a prosecutor, in the case of suspects who are not cooperative, I refuse to seal it. In that case, the Criminal Procedure Act stipulates that the purpose of the refusal to seal is stated. There are fewer inspections to the effect that the suspect refused to sign or seal on this part. Even so, the absence of a signature, seal, or seal in the case established in the Supreme Court is a case that confirms that the ability to testify is not recognized if the purpose of the seal rejection is written. So it seems that President Yoon Suk Yeol has been a prosecutor for more than 26 years, so he knows really well about this. However, I think President Yoon Suk Yeol, a legal professional, is well aware of the lack of evidence. But as a legal professional, I think it's sad in a way that the criminal procedure law uses everything that the general public can't enjoy. In fact, even if you exercise the right to refuse to state, you can seal the record. You can sign it, and it doesn't have any statement of your own anyway, so even if you're given the ability to prove it, it's not worth any evidence. Because there is no answer from the suspect. However, the fact that even this was not stamped does not acknowledge the investigation itself of the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit. It seems that I have made it clear that I will not cooperate at all because it is an illegal investigation. In fact, in terms of protecting the law, I also question whether I am doing so as a legal professional.

[Anchor]
However, in the end, if you go to criminal proceedings, you will have to know the contents anyway, but wouldn't it be advantageous for you to prepare or not read the record?

{이고}The record must be viewed. So what is reading? If the investigation is completed, it is to read and check whether the prosecutor is well stated in the record as I said. If it's not written in the record as I said, I can ask for a correction. If you refuse to read the record, I've had that experience. For example, if an old suspect says he can't read because he can't see well, or if he doesn't want to read it, I've read everything from beginning to end. So if you refuse to read it, the prosecutor or prosecution investigator can read it. When reading is complete, we leave that purpose in the investigation report and write that the reading process has been completed, but even this was rejected. In other words, it is shown that in order to completely eliminate the evidence ability of the suspect's interrogation report, he did not sign or seal in the end and did not even read it. But I think this part was actually a little unnecessary. The reason for this is that under the revised Criminal Procedure Act, even if the prosecutor's interrogation report is denied at the trial stage, the evidence will be lost anyway. So, I think it is intended to show clearly that the investigation by the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit is not recognized and resists the investigation by the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit, even when it goes to the court stage.

[Anchor]
If you continue to refuse to make statements and are thus uncooperative with the investigation, what happens to you from the investigator's point of view?

{이고}In fact, I think it is difficult to obtain any meaningful statement evidence from the President of Yoon Suk Yeol. However, according to the report of the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit that continues today, we are not worried about proving the charges, even if the investigation into the suspect is not carried out perfectly. That means, we don't mind much about President Yoon Suk Yeol's refusal to make any statements, as it is sufficiently possible to prove the allegation by the accomplice and other relevant evidence currently held by the Airborne Division. In other words, it is now read that you are confident in proving the charges.

[Anchor]
Then, the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit is fully prepared and, as you mentioned earlier, is confident in proving the charges. Still, I think I need to hear something from the suspect to be more advantageous for evidence or future investigations, but there may be no strategies to draw an answer, can we see it like this?

{이고}I don't think so. In the case of ordinary suspects, the questionnaire is 10 pages, and that is the maximum. Because even if you prepare only 10 pages when you have a question, it usually increases to 30 or 40 pages when you write down your answer. However, the fact that 200 pages of questionnaires were prepared does not seem to have been insufficiently prepared as the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit appears to have prepared questions from various angles on the same facts, but President Yoon Suk Yeol had already established the principle that he would not answer when the investigation was launched from the beginning, but the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit was not prepared enough.

[Anchor]
It is known that the investigation was conducted for about 10 hours and 40 minutes. The overnight survey was not conducted. After all, should I say this was the last courtesy to the president?

{이고}In the case of a late-night investigation, it can be done with the consent of the parties. However, even without the consent of the parties, a late-night investigation can be conducted in exceptional circumstances. When the exceptional reason has to decide whether to request an arrest warrant within 48 hours, when the time is very tight, it can be done if it is necessary for investigation, even if the parties do not agree. However, it could be a courtesy to the incumbent president. Or, if we continue the overnight investigation anyway, the attitude of refusing to state will not change, so I think we will probably summon the remaining questionnaires this morning and decide whether to request an arrest warrant. However, there is a variable now. Since we have requested an arrest suit, 48 hours will be suspended for this part. And you have to send this data to the court where all of the evidence documents you have and all of these things are required to be reviewed. Now, there is an obstacle to this part, so I think the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit has been agonizing over whether to summon this part this morning or hand over the legal documents to the court first for the review of the suitability.

[Anchor]
If it wasn't for the arrest, would it usually be called back in the morning?

{이고}That's right. Usually, I sing it around 9 a.m. However, the definition of the late-night survey is from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. If you say so, you can call from 6 a.m. that you will not conduct a late-night survey. However, there are various problems with convoy personnel. Of course, President Yoon Suk Yeol does not use a convoy but uses his own security officials to cooperate with the investigation, but even so, it will be difficult to call him from 6 a.m. and he can start the investigation from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. even if there is no request for an arrest suit.

[Anchor]
From the perspective of the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit, if there is a variable and the president's attitude does not change, the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit will have no choice but to have a different strategy than yesterday. What do you think?

{이고}I think I would have already fully expected the position that the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit would not make any statements even if President Yoon Suk Yeol responded to the investigation. However, since the remaining accomplices have already been prosecuted and are on trial, I think it was originally the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit's plan to check the president's position on other accomplices' statements and statements to reference persons and proceed to the procedure of requesting an arrest warrant. So I don't think there will be any strategy change today, and I think we will ask sequential questions about the parts of the remaining questionnaires that have not been asked.

[Anchor]
But as you mentioned earlier, they usually prepare about 10 pages, but it's 200 pages. In 48 hours, we have about a day left, so will we be able to digest it all during that time?

{이고}Isn't the President of Yoon Suk Yeol answering at the moment? It will be in the form of only reading questions and moving on, so I think you will be able to digest it in time.

[Anchor]
And what happened to the number of people who went in there in the process of doing the survey, when doing the survey? [Lee Go-eun] When investigating, prosecutors are assigned to investigate as if they are continuously being reported. A prosecution investigator will be assigned and a lawyer who helps the suspect and the suspect's defense will sit next to him and join. As the report continues to appear, it is said that only lawyer Yoon Gap-geun was present next to the president of Yoon Suk Yeol during the investigation. Currently, there are a total of four lawyers for President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been appointed to the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit and the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit in criminal cases. Among them, those who attended the investigation yesterday and lasted about 10 hours will check what unfair investigation is being conducted and whether the president is cajoling statements by coercion. Yesterday, lawyer Yoon Gap-geun was present, but there are reports that lawyer Yoon Gap-geun did not make any statements.

[Anchor]
With both parties and lawyers now refusing to exercise their right to remain silent and seal their records, can this attitude or behavior of not cooperating with the investigation affect the reason for the claim when requesting an arrest warrant later?

{이고}That's right. The reason for requesting an arrest warrant can be stated that it can still maintain an uncooperative attitude in the future investigation or trial process. When I was in the prosecution, I directly filed for an arrest warrant and pointed out these parts as a reason for the claim if I showed a very bad attitude, uncooperative attitude, or hostile attitude to the investigator. So, perhaps President Yoon Suk Yeol's arrest warrant was issued twice because he refused to comply with all the requests for investigation by the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit. Even though he was arrested in that way, the part of not opening his mouth to any statements and even refusing to seal the record, I think it will probably work against President Yoon Suk Yeol.

[Anchor]
But when an arrest warrant is requested, it goes to trial. The Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit is investigating now, but the controversial things cannot be prosecuted, so should the investigations eventually be transferred to the prosecution?


[This is]
is correct. In the end, the prosecution has the right to prosecute. In the end, it seems that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office will have to indict him. So, if you are currently under arrest, you can be arrested for up to 20 days, right? So, if the contents discussed by the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit and the prosecution spend all 20 days at the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit, there is no time for the prosecution to actually prosecute. The prosecution must also write a written indictment, which means the prosecution has to prosecute. And in practice, the prosecution secured evidence of major accomplices and prosecuted former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun. So the prosecution has a lot of data. That's why the prosecution will also divide it into 10 days and 10 days, and then decide whether to prosecute it or not. In the end, I think the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office will finally prosecute President Yoon Suk Yeol.

[Anchor]
President Yoon Suk Yeol is also a legal expert, so when he shows an uncooperative attitude to the investigation when requesting an arrest warrant, this can affect the reason for the claim, right? Still, did he think this was the last thing he could do?

{이고}In fact, didn't President Yoon Suk Yeol, especially Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok, post a public appeal on his SNS? It contains a plea for the people to gather their will. I think that's when President Yoon Suk Yeol's public opinion campaign began. Yesterday, even at the end of the execution of the arrest warrant, he did not immediately respond to the arrest, but filmed a two-minute video and made it public through the media. And even during the investigation, the handwritten letter was made public through his lawyers. Therefore, what President Yoon Suk Yeol has been claiming, that is, the arrest warrant, is very illegal, and the investigation by the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit itself is illegal. Therefore, I think that I intend to clearly show my support that my will is right through things like refusing to sign the record and refusing to accept the meaning of resistance. In the end, President Yoon Suk Yeol, who even served as a prosecutor, has no fear of destroying evidence or running away because it is the current president's status if the arrest warrant is rejected. I think he personally judged that his uncooperative attitude in the investigation will not work much against him because this will eventually be a key issue.

[Anchor]
I see. We've been thinking a little bit about the intention, but first of all, President Yoon Suk Yeol is known to be currently in custody in Seoul Detention Center, where are you in the middle?

{이고}I'm in Seoul Detention Center right now. It is known that he is using a solitary cell and is currently in a waiting space for the results of this screening to come out. And I'm not currently in custody, so I don't wear a veterinarian. I'm using my plain clothes as they are.

[Anchor]
What is your security? This is unprecedented. Still, the president has been arrested even though he is an incumbent president. How does KYUNG HO do it?

{이고}The Ministry of Justice also said that it is possible to cooperate with the security part, but it is practically impossible to protect the inside of the detention center. This is because the Seoul Detention Center is accommodating a considerable number of people. Therefore, in the case of a detention center, it is a very important confidential place, so there may be problems if a security guard enters this area and protects it, so outside the detention center, the security guard is protected, but inside, President Yoon Suk Yeol seems to be living according to the procedures.

[Anchor]
I talked about the request for an arrest warrant earlier, but if the request is accepted and issued, then will I be imprisoned in the detention center?

{이고}Are you talking about the arrest warrant issued? That's right. It will officially go through the admission process. You'll be given an acceptance number. You'll be in veterinary care. Of course, when you go outside, you can change your plain clothes, but you wear a veterinarian inside. In such an arrest, as I said earlier, you will undergo a 20-day investigation, and when there is an investigation while imprisoned in a detention center, you will be investigated in the form of a business trip, and prosecution will be decided before the arrest period expires.

[Anchor]
Then, it might be an extension, but you're the incumbent president. If you are arrested and detained in a detention center, will the security service be able to set up a security zone for a certain part of the detention center?

{이고}I think it will be a little difficult to set it as a security zone. Because the detention center itself is so confidential and safety and security are important, I think it is difficult to protect the inside of the detention center when there is a business trip investigation by President Yoon Suk Yeol from outside, rather than actually defining the inside as a security zone. In fact, it is the first time in constitutional history, so it is the Ministry of Justice that works with the Security Service, the Ministry of Justice, and the detention center on this part. So I think I'll discuss this with the Ministry of Justice.

[Anchor]
As Yoon Suk Yeol's president said earlier, he has filed an arrest suit. Please explain again the reason for requesting such arrest suit.

{이고}When an arrest suit is filed, the court examines whether the arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol was legitimate or unfair. If you think it was unfair on this part, you can release it right away. In fact, it is rarely cited in cases where this arrest suit is claimed. I've only seen him once while working as a prosecutor. In the case of an arrest of a fraud suspect, when he suddenly reimburses all the unpaid amount, I saw a case cited in the legality in this case, and I think President Yoon Suk Yeol is well aware that it is difficult to be cited even if he claims an arrest suit because he has been a prosecutor for a very long time. And yet why did he do it? Even yesterday, I said I wouldn't do it, but at the end of the investigation, I suddenly asked for an arrest suit, so I thought about why this was done, but I think we should focus a little more on why this is illegal, which President Yoon Suk Yeol continues to insist on. It is illegal and illegal because the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit, which has no jurisdiction, illegally executed arrest warrants issued by the Western District Court, which has no jurisdiction. Three times, I talked in a message to the public at the end of the execution of the arrest warrant. So because I think the arrest itself is problematic. If so, the arrest is unfair. I think they're saying they'll claim your legitimacy now. I think it's an action that can show the rally of supporters against him and that he thought the arrest was unfair.

[Anchor]
So if you don't show such a cooperative attitude because you continue to emphasize injustice and illegality in investigations and arrests, then is there a possibility that President Yoon Suk Yeol will be more active and attend in person when the interrogation is scheduled regarding the legality?

{이고}If the interrogation date is set, I think we can actually go to the interrogation process and talk if the person can attend. Of course, in the meantime, I said I would comply if the court's proceedings were not the Western District Court but the Central District Court. However, now that he has filed an arrest suit with the Western District Court, it seems likely that President Yoon Suk Yeol will attend the court to talk about why it was claimed and why it was unfair to be issued. Regardless of the outcome through this, I think there is a high possibility that President Yoon Suk Yeol will actively respond because it is a part that can appeal to the court once more.

[Anchor]
There is a time in the process of investigation. By the way, this time when the enrolment examination is conducted is excluded?


[This is]
is correct. When an arrest suit is filed, the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit and the investigative agency must send all the documents they have to the court where the suitability request was filed. Then, from the time that the record was filed with the court, the court will decide after hearing whether it is the record or the interrogation of the party. That time is not counted in 48 hours until a decision is made and the litigation documents are returned to the prosecutor's office. So, for President Yoon Suk Yeol, the effect of delaying the deadline for requesting an arrest warrant has occurred to some extent now, so you can understand it like this.

[Anchor]
Is there a normal time for how long it takes to get arrested?

{이고}Usually, it comes to a conclusion within a day or two.

[Anchor]
Then, if you have to see the results, but if you're concerned about the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit is cited. Doesn't that stop the investigation?

{이고}I don't think there's any chance that it's going to be a quote. This is because it is a warrant that has already been legally issued not once but twice in the Western District Court, so if this is cited, the court itself may result in denial. And as I said earlier, there are very few cases in which an arrest suit is normally accepted. However, in this case, I think it is very unlikely to be cited because it was issued by a warrant or another judge twice.

[Anchor]
Then, from the perspective of the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit, what is reported in the media is that they will seek an arrest warrant as early as today. Do you agree on that?

{이고}Since an arrest suit has been filed, the deadline is likely to increase a little. So for now, I think the record itself will probably be judged today, the meeting parts of the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit will not summon it this morning, but send the document to the court once it comes back, briefly investigate it, and decide whether to request an arrest warrant. I think it will be difficult to request an arrest warrant today, and for now, I think I will send the records of the request for arrest, related materials for examination, and the record of refusing to seal after being investigated yesterday to the court.

[Anchor]
We've talked about the investigation of President Yoon. Let's also talk about the Constitutional Court judge. Today is the second day of the impeachment trial, and now the detention center is waiting for investigation, so President Yoon has asked to postpone the second hearing, right?

{이고}That's right. The reason for President Yoon is that Yoon Suk Yeol, the party involved, wants to attend in person and make a plea at the Constitutional Court, but the movement is not smooth because he is currently under arrest, right? So please postpone these 2nd pleading dates. In order to ensure the right to participate and defend the parties, we have put in an application to postpone the second pleading date. But no conclusion has been made on this part yet. However, I think it is unlikely to be accepted. The reason is that there is a second hearing date today, and I submitted an application for postponement last night. Usually, courts don't accept these cases well. In addition, for example, even if the lawyers appear today, the parties can attend together in future proceedings. So, if the party is not present on the first date, the second date must be designated, and if the party is not present on the second date, the hearing can be held without the party's attendance from then on. That means that the person can attend or the hearing can be held without attendance, and since this is the part, the president of Yoon Suk Yeol can attend from the third hearing date. So, I don't think the Constitutional Court will decide that the second hearing should be postponed right now.

[Anchor]
Then, if it goes ahead at 2 p.m. as scheduled today, President Yoon is expected to be uncertain about his attendance, is there any problem in proceeding with the hearing date?

{이고}There is no problem. If the party is absent on the second pleading date, the interrogation may be conducted without the party's attendance and the pleading may proceed. You can proceed with the hearing. So even if you don't come at 2 p.m. on this date, there is no problem in proceeding with the defense at all.

[Anchor]
If you look at the position of President Yoon Suk Yeol one more thing, you know the decree that was written at the time of the emergency martial law. Among them, it is known that No. 1 was written incorrectly by former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, and submitted a second response containing this purpose. What did you think about this?

{이고}There are facts that the President of Yoon Suk Yeol has no choice but to admit now. For example, on December 3rd, an emergency decree was declared. It has broadcasting materials left. And that Pogoryeong went out with him at the time. And what the content of the decree is, these are things that cannot be denied even if the president denies because there is objective evidence.
So instead of denying this fact itself, I think I'm choosing a strategy of passing on the responsibility of my accomplice, not my fault. So I would exactly deny that there is no evidence. It seems that you are now taking the strategy that there is evidence that it is not my fault, it is someone else's. However, I don't know if these parts will be advantageous to President Yoon Suk Yeol when an arrest warrant is requested. Because, of course, major accomplices are currently under arrest, but I haven't seen the evidence record, but there are many people who participated in the implementation of the case besides the main offenders, perhaps former Minister Kim Yong-hyun. Among them, there may be people who will be prosecuted without detention, or there may be witnesses who have not necessarily switched to the suspect status. However, if the former minister Kim Yong-hyun claims that this was Kim Yong-hyun's fault, it is not my fault, he may actually coax a statement to another reference person without detention. Then, it can be seen that there is a fear of destroying evidence. So, is it right to use this strategy now? It is expected that the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit will soon request an arrest warrant. If so, it is questionable whether these actions will work in favor of the suspect, President Yoon Suk Yeol, during the substantive examination.

[Anchor]
And it's the president of Yoon Suk Yeol, and the Constitutional Court's hearing date is set up to five times. He also filed a very objection to this part, and before that, he also filed a challenge against the constitutional judge in the political election. He is also expressing his position that it is not a criminal court against the Constitutional Court, but what do you think is the intention of these parts?

{이고}First of all, as I said at the outset, I think that President Yoon Suk Yeol is exercising all the rights currently stipulated in the law. So, in fact, you can specify the trial hearing date collectively. It is clearly stipulated in the Constitutional Court Act and its rules. The existence of such a provision was dismissed by the Constitutional Court judge on the last date, explaining which provisions corresponded to it. However, not only the lawyer but also the president of Yoon Suk Yeol, who is involved in it, are legal professionals, so I don't think he would know that. However, as of now, there is a need for parts that continue to delay the process, so it seems that they have raised objections to these parts. Even if it is not accepted, I think these are considered because supporters of Yoon Suk Yeol are once more convinced of what Yoon Suk Yeol is saying and can inspire a rally of supporters in that area.

[Anchor]
We will tell you in detail as soon as the investigation situation and investigation situation of the Senior Civil Servant Corruption Investigations Unit come in today. Let's stop here. Today, I was with lawyer Lee Go-eun. Thank you very much. Thank you.