The court has denied an arrest warrant for Lee Si-won, a former aide to the presidential office, who is accused of leaking investigation details related to the death of Marine Corporal Chae Soo-geun.
According to legal sources, Judge Lee Jong-rok of the Seoul Central District Court conducted a pre-arrest interrogation for Lee on the previous day and subsequently rejected the warrant request.
The judge stated, "There is room to contest the criminal charges legally, and considering the progress of the investigation, the suspect's attitude regarding the allegations, and attendance at other criminal trials, it is difficult to see a risk of flight or destruction of evidence," leading to the decision to deny the warrant.
Earlier, the second special investigation team, led by Kwon Chang-young, applied for the arrest warrant on July 10, accusing Lee of leaking confidential information to the Marine Corps regarding a planned police raid by the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency.
The special investigation team reported that the National Police Agency had informed the presidential office's public integrity secretary's office about the raid plan, and Lee subsequently communicated this information to officials in the National Security Office, which was then relayed to the Marine Corps through the Ministry of National Defense.
Prior to the special investigation team, the Marine Corps special investigation team had also detected indications that the report on the Gyeongbuk Police's investigation was transmitted through the National Police Agency to the presidential office and the Ministry of National Defense before reaching the Marine Corps.
At that time, the Marine Corps special investigation team suspected that Lee might have been gathering and reporting such investigative information in real-time under direct orders from former President Yoon Suk-yeol. However, they were unable to conclude the case due to time constraints and limitations on compulsory investigation periods.
As a result, the special investigation team has begun additional supplementary investigations to secure Lee's custody, but the court's denial of the warrant has disrupted plans to use Lee as a key link to prove directives from former President Yoon and higher-ups.
In this context, the special investigation team's deadline for the investigation ends on July 24. The team has recently requested the National Assembly to amend the special investigation law to extend the investigation period by an additional 30 days, which passed through the National Assembly's Legislative and Judiciary Committee under the ruling party's leadership the previous day.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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