Park Sung-jae, former Minister of Justice, who is suspected of aiding and abetting the declaration of martial law on December 3 by former President Yoon Suk Yeol, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, after attending a pre-arrest interrogation (warrant review) on the 14th. Yonhap News. 

Former Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae, who is facing charges of "participation in insurrection" related to the December 3 emergency martial law declaration, has narrowly avoided detention.

On the 15th, Park Jung-ho, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, dismissed the arrest warrant for Park after conducting a pre-arrest interrogation, stating that "there is insufficient explanation regarding the necessity (validity) of detention or concerns over flight or destruction of evidence."

The court explained, "There is room for legal debate regarding the circumstances under which the suspect became aware of the illegality, the specific details of the illegality he recognized, and the existence or degree of illegality in the measures objectively taken."

The court further added, "Considering the current degree of evidence provided, the progress of the investigation, and the suspect's cooperation with the proceedings, the principle of investigation without detention takes precedence over concerns regarding flight or the destruction of evidence."

Previously, the special prosecutor team led by Cho Eun-seok, which is investigating allegations of insurrection and treason related to the December 3 martial law incident, requested an arrest warrant for Park on the 9th on charges of participating in critical duties of insurrection and abuse of power.

Park is accused of failing to prevent former President Yoon Suk Yeol's illegal declaration of martial law and instead conspiring in and participating in it.

The special prosecutor team views Park's responsibility as relatively greater than that of other cabinet members, given that he held the position of Minister of Justice, whose core duties include protecting human rights and maintaining the rule of law.

The special prosecutor team determined that Park went beyond simply aiding the martial law declaration and sequentially participated in former President Yoon's act of insurrection.

Immediately after the declaration of martial law, Park returned to the Ministry of Justice and convened a meeting of senior officials. During the meeting, which was attended by 10 bureau chiefs and directors, he is alleged to have instructed the Prosecution Bureau to "review the possibility of dispatching prosecutors to the Joint Investigation Headquarters."

He is also accused of ordering the Immigration Bureau to have an exit ban team on standby on the day of the martial law declaration. It has been confirmed that the immigration control team, responsible for entry/exit bans and counter-terrorism, did indeed report to the Ministry of Justice building.

Allegations have also been raised that he instructed the Correctional Service to check capacity and secure space to detain politicians and others following the declaration of martial law.

The special prosecutor team deemed these instructions as acts of "destabilizing the constitutional order," intended to justify and maintain the state of illegal martial law.

Former Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae after the warrant review. Yonhap News. 

During the review, the special prosecutor team argued for the necessity of detention based on a 230-page opinion paper and 120 slides of PPT materials.

They reportedly argued that there was a risk of evidence destruction, citing the deletion of data regarding reports on detention center capacity from Park's mobile phone and the fact that he replaced his phone after the incident.

Park's legal team reportedly denied all charges during the hearing. Their stance is that they cannot agree with the claim that the declaration of martial law itself constitutes an insurrection, and that Park was merely performing his routine duties as Minister of Justice and never issued any improper orders.

After his previous questioning, Park stated that he had only performed his standard duties and that the special prosecutor team was applying a different legal interpretation to the same set of facts.

With both sides locked in a fierce dispute, the court, having reviewed the case, effectively bolstered Park's position by dismissing the warrant on the grounds that the allegations were not sufficiently substantiated.

Following the earlier dismissal of the warrant for former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the rejection of Park’s warrant has led to observations that the special prosecutor team's future "insurrection investigation" may face setbacks.

The special prosecutor team plans to decide whether to re-request an arrest warrant after reviewing the reasons for the dismissal.

Yonhap News