When the arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol was executed on the 3rd by the High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Office (Corruption Investigation Office), it was revealed that the military and police assigned to guard the official residence did not cooperate with the Presidential Security Service, and the Secret Service’s command authority over the military and police dispatched to the Security Service was suspended. There is controversy over this. Some in the ruling party criticized the military and police for refusing and protesting their mission to protect the president, but the military and police countered, saying, “We are not required to cooperate even with missions that are controversial.”
The 55th Security Group of the Army Capital Defense Command, which is in charge of guarding the fence of the President’s official residence, opened the iron gate, the primary entry gate to the official residence, just a few minutes after the Airborne Investigation Office began executing the warrant on the 3rd. The 202nd Security Team of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, which was in charge of guarding the outskirts of the official residence, also did not actively block the officials of the Corruption Investigation Office heading to the official residence. In this process, Park Jong-joon, the head of the Presidential Security Service, made a request to Acting President Choi Sang-mok, saying, “Please deploy the police security unit quickly because it is not moving.” Acting Choi told Acting Police Commissioner Lee Ho-young to review the Secret Service’s request for cooperation. However, as a result, Acting Director Lee actually rejected it. Despite the security office’s request, the 202nd Security Group was instead given instructions to ‘work lawfully and in accordance with laws and principles.’ Acting Minister of National Defense Kim Seon-ho also conveyed his position to the Secret Service at the time, saying, “It is not appropriate to deploy military forces to block the execution of the arrest warrant by the Airborne Investigation Office.” In particular, Acting Director Kim also issued instructions to the unit commander of the 55th Security Guard that “there should be no physical conflict with the police.” In response to this, People Power Party floor leader Kwon Seong-dong criticized it at an emergency general meeting on the 4th, calling it “a clear downward spiral.”
Security for the President’s official residence is a three-layer security system, with the 33rd Military Police Battalion and the 55th Security Group under the Subangsa on the outskirts, the 101st and 202nd Security Group under the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the inside, and the Secret Service in the nearest area. However, the Secret Service’s authority to command and supervise military and police dispatched personnel is not clearly defined in relevant laws. For this reason, the National Security Agency has been pushing for revisions to related laws to clarify the command and supervision authority specified in internal guidelines and other forms. In November 2022, the Secret Service, led by then-Chief of the Security Service Kim Yong-hyun, became embroiled in controversy when it attempted to revise the Enforcement Decree of the Presidential Security Act, which allows the Secret Service to command and supervise the military and police performing security duties. The opposition party viewed the revision of the enforcement ordinance as an attempt to revive the command and supervision authority of other organizations of the Secret Service that existed during the Yushin era in the 1970s, and criticized it as “the revival of Chief Security Officer Cha Ji-cheol.” Concerns were expressed about the revision of county and provincial enforcement ordinances. As controversy arose, the amendment was shelved, and eventually, in May 2023, the following year, the existing phrase ‘exercise command and supervision rights’ was replaced with ‘the ability to adjust matters related to personnel, facilities, equipment, etc. that support security work in consultation with the head of the relevant agency.’ It was replaced with ‘there is’.
This is interpreted to be the reason why the 55th Security Group and the 202nd Security Group responded passively or the military and police leadership did not respond to the Secret Service’s request for manpower support in the process of opposing the execution of the arrest warrant by the Airborne Investigation Office. A government official said, “The dispatched personnel are under the control of the Secret Service, but since the mission is controversial, the original agency can determine whether or not the mission is being performed.”
Reporter Shin Gyu-jin [email protected]
Military reporter Sang-ho Yoon [email protected]
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