Former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung, who is accused of participating in the December 3rd martial law insurrection and abuse of power regarding the waiver of an immediate appeal, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 16th after undergoing a pre-arrest interrogation (warrant review). [Yonhap News] 

Former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung, who is under suspicion of participating in the December 3rd emergency martial law insurrection and abuse of power related to the waiver of an immediate appeal, has avoided the threat of arrest.

Judge Budong-sik, a judge at the Seoul Central District Court responsible for warrants, dismissed the arrest warrant for former Prosecutor General Shim on the 16th after conducting a pre-arrest interrogation.

The court explained the grounds for dismissal, stating, "Given the nature of the defense and the collected evidence, there is insufficient justification for the concern that evidence might be destroyed," adding, "It is also difficult to conclude that there is a risk of flight, considering the progress of the investigation and trial."

The court also dismissed the arrest warrant for Jeon Mu-gon, former Chief of the Planning and Coordination Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (a chief prosecutor), who had been requested for arrest alongside Shim, stating that "there is no sufficient reason to believe there is a risk of evidence destruction or flight."

Previously, the 2nd Special Investigation Team led by Kwon Chang-young requested an arrest warrant for former Prosecutor General Shim on the 14th on charges of engaging in important duties of insurrection and abuse of official power.

Former Prosecutor General Shim is accused of reviewing the deployment of prosecutors to the Martial Law Joint Investigation Headquarters on December 3, 2024—the day the emergency martial law was declared—under the instructions of former Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae.

It was found that after attending the cabinet meeting on the day the martial law was declared, former Minister Park returned to the Ministry of Justice and convened a meeting of senior officials.

At the time, ten ministry officials, including bureau chiefs, were present, and allegations arose that former Minister Park had instructed the Prosecution Bureau to "consider the deployment of prosecutors to the Joint Investigation Headquarters."

It was confirmed that former Minister Park Sung-jae had spoken to former Prosecutor General Shim three times between 11:00 PM on the day of the declaration and the early hours of the following morning.

This has led to allegations that former Minister Park may have also instructed the Prosecutor General to deploy prosecutors to the joint headquarters.

Former Prosecutor General Shim is also suspected of being involved in discussing countermeasures for crimes under the jurisdiction of military courts immediately after the declaration of martial law and participating in the drafting of a document titled "Jurisdiction of Trials under Emergency Martial Law."

The special investigation team previously stated that they had secured the "Jurisdiction of Trials under Emergency Martial Law" document during a search and seizure of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

The document clarifies the martial law proclamation and outlines the judicial and investigative jurisdiction thereunder.

Following the search and seizure, the investigation team obtained statements from officials at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to the effect that "there were discussions on how to respond to crimes that would fall under the jurisdiction of military courts if martial law were to actually proceed."

The charges also include abuse of power related to the decision to waive an immediate appeal after the cancellation of the arrest of former President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Former President Yoon, who was arrested and indicted on charges including being the head of an insurrection, requested the court to cancel his arrest in March of last year, claiming that the prosecution’s indictment had occurred after the expiration of the detention period; the court granted the request.

While members of the investigation team at the time suggested filing an immediate appeal against the court’s decision to cancel the arrest to seek a higher court’s ruling, former Prosecutor General Shim, after going through meetings including the Supreme Prosecutors' Office department heads, decided not to file an immediate appeal and directed the release of former President Yoon.

Former Chief of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Planning and Coordination Department Jeon Mu-gon, accused of engaging in important duties of insurrection and abuse of official power, leaves the courtroom after his pre-arrest interrogation (warrant review) at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu on the 16th. [Yonhap News] 

It is reported that former Prosecutor General Shim denied the charges during the warrant review held that day.

His stance is that the review of the deployment of prosecutors to the joint headquarters was merely a theoretical contingency plan following the declaration of martial law rather than an act of participation, and that the decision to waive an immediate appeal was based on a legal review.

Former Chief Prosecutor Jeon Mu-gon, who was also subject to an arrest warrant for his alleged involvement in drafting the martial law trial jurisdiction document, reportedly argued that viewing simple discussions about jurisdiction as participation in an insurrection is an excessive application of the law.

After reviewing the arguments from both sides, the court dismissed the warrants, effectively supporting the claims made by former Prosecutor General Shim and his side.

This marks the third warrant dismissal in three days, following the dismissal of warrants for former Ground Operations Commander Kang Ho-pil on the 14th and former Secretary for Civil Service Discipline Lee Si-won the previous day.

With arrest warrants requested toward the end of the investigation period being repeatedly dismissed, criticism regarding the investigative capabilities of the special investigation team is expected to intensify.

The special investigation team, which launched in February, has requested arrest warrants for a total of 18 people, including the former Prosecutor General and former Chief Prosecutor Jeon, but warrants have been issued for only 6 of them.

Following a "heavy-tail" strategy of focusing on warrant requests and indictments in the latter half of their term, they have been bunching their warrant requests near the end of the investigation, but have failed to yield significant results other than the case against former First Deputy Director of the National Security Office Kim Tae-hyo.

Critics point out that the team's request to the National Assembly for a "third extension of the investigation period" has lost its justification due to the series of warrant dismissals.

The investigation team's deadline is set to expire on the 24th.

The team has requested an extension of the special counsel law from the National Assembly, centered on a "third extension of the investigation period."