Former Korea Communications Commission (KCC) Chairperson Lee Jin-sook, who was arrested on charges including violations of the State Public Officials Act and the Public Official Election Act, speaks to reporters while being escorted to the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul on the 2nd. Yonhap News.

Police questioned former Korea Communications Commission (KCC) Chairperson Lee Jin-sook for three hours following her arrest. Lee’s legal team claimed the arrest was unjust, released the arrest warrant to the public, and announced plans to file for a judicial review of the legality of the arrest.

Lee’s attorney, Lim Moo-young, met with reporters at the Yeongdeungpo Police Station at approximately 9:15 p.m. on the 2nd. He stated that Lee had finished questioning, which lasted from around 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and had been placed in a detention cell.

Questioning of Lee by the police is scheduled to resume around 10:00 a.m. on the 3rd.

Attorney Lim stated, "Because we had limited time today, we focused on the factual basis of whether a legitimate summons had been issued rather than the specific criminal allegations," adding, "We will file for a review of the legality of the arrest tomorrow (the 3rd)."

He added, "During tomorrow’s questioning, we plan to explain in detail why no crime has been committed."

Following the interrogation, he also released the police arrest warrant via his personal blog.

According to the warrant, Lee is accused of violating the State Public Officials Act and the Public Official Election Act. The police warrant states that Lee made politically biased remarks while appearing on four conservative-leaning YouTube channels between September and October of last year, a period during which she was suspended from duty.

The allegations claim she expressed opinions opposing specific political parties, such as saying, "I am grateful for the words of the 'conservative female warrior'... we need warriors to fight against fake leftists," and "The Democratic Party and leftist groups are groups that will do anything you can imagine."

The police pointed out that these comments constitute a violation of political neutrality by a political appointee in connection with her duties or by leveraging her position. Consequently, charges of violating the State Public Officials Act (prohibition of political activities) were applied.

Furthermore, the police stated that she faces charges (violation of the Public Official Election Act) for remarks made on Facebook and at the National Assembly between March and April of this year, ahead of the general election and by-elections, such as "Democratic Party lawmakers and Chairman Lee Jae-myung are caught in the act of dereliction of duty," and "because the Democratic Party impeached me." These remarks were allegedly made with the intent to defeat candidates from the Democratic Party.

Attorney Lim claimed on his blog that the arrest warrant was requested on October 1, the day Lee was dismissed from her position, calling it "behavior that highlights the baseness of the Yeongdeungpo Police Station."

Regarding the police's statement that they had sent six summons to Lee’s side, he questioned whether this was an intentional move to establish grounds for an arrest warrant, stating, "The officer in charge had told us, 'It's just a formality, so you don't need to worry about it.'"

The police plan to continue questioning Lee tomorrow morning before considering whether to apply for an arrest warrant. However, if Lee’s side files for a review of the legality of the arrest, the court hearing is expected to take precedence.

A review of the legality of an arrest (known as chepo-jeokbusimsa) is a system where the court examines whether an arrest by investigative agencies was lawful and whether continued detention is necessary. Once the application is filed, the court must immediately notify the parties of the hearing date, which must be set within 48 hours.

The decision must be made within 24 hours after the conclusion of the hearing.

The judge who issued the initial arrest warrant is not permitted to participate in the legality review hearing.

Yonhap News