Yoo Byung-ho Files for Review of Detention Legality in Residence Relocation Audit Cover-up Allegations... Hearing Tomorrow

Yoo Byung-ho, a Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) member who was arrested over allegations of a cover-up audit regarding the relocation of the presidential office and official residence, has asked the court to re-examine the legality of his detention.

Yoo filed a request for a review of the legality of his detention with the Seoul Central District Court yesterday (August 4).

A review of the legality of detention is a procedure in which the court determines whether a suspect's detention during the investigative stage is lawful and whether there is a continued necessity for detention.

The interrogation session is scheduled to take place at 2:10 PM tomorrow (August 6).

Yoo is accused of abusing his authority and obstructing the exercise of rights by wrongfully intervening to scale down or conceal audit findings related to the relocation of the presidential office and official residence during his tenure as the secretary-general of the BAI under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration relocated the presidential office to the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan and the official residence to the former Minister of Foreign Affairs' official residence. Subsequently, suspicions emerged surrounding the selection of construction contractors and construction costs, prompting an audit in October 2022.

The 2nd Special Prosecutor Team led by Kwon Chang-young believes that Yoo at the time set a so-called guideline for the audit team regarding the investigation methods and document request procedures.

While the audit team had originally dispatched related documents to conduct in-person interviews with officials from construction-related companies such as 21 Gram, investigations show that Yoo ordered these to be rescinded and replaced with written inquiries.

It was also found that he gave instructions to request presidential office materials verbally instead of through official documents and to refrain from conducting in-person interviews with presidential office officials.

21 Gram sponsored an exhibition hosted by Covana Contents, a company operated by Kim Keonhee, and was in charge of designing and constructing the Covana Contents office. The head couple of this company is known to have close ties with Kim.

Previously, the special prosecutor team requested an arrest warrant for Yoo on July 14, and the court issued the warrant on the 20th of the same month, citing concerns over the destruction of evidence.

(Photo: Joint Press Corps, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.