58 Indicted, But 65% of Arrest Warrants Denied and Cases Left Unsolved

[Anchor]

The 2nd comprehensive independent counsel team, which has continued investigating remaining suspicions following the probes by three previous independent counsels, has wrapped up its investigation after indicting a total of 58 people. The dismissal rate for arrest warrants reached 65%, and major cases were handed back to the police without being resolved.

Reporter Shin Yong-il has the details.

[Reporter]

Concluding its six-month investigation, the comprehensive independent counsel team indicted a total of 58 people, including former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his spouse.

[Kwon Chang-young / Comprehensive Independent Counsel: If the (comprehensive independent counsel team's investigative results) can even slightly quench the public's burning thirst for upholding the constitutional order and their craving for justice, I will consider it a great honor.]

Uncovering certain suspicions that the previous three independent counsel teams failed to resolve is a notable achievement.

Regarding suspicions surrounding the relocation of the presidential residence, former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-ki and former Secretary-General of the Board of Audit and Inspection Yoo Byung-ho were indicted and detained.

Kim Tae-hyo, former 1st Deputy Director of the National Security Office, who transmitted the logic justifying martial law to friendly nations under the instruction of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, was also detained and handed over to trial along with related individuals.

However, the team failed to secure statements regarding the so-called "Noh Sang-won notebook" suspicions, and failed to clarify the involvement of former Minister Won Hee-ryong, who had been pointed to as the "higher-up" in the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway suspicions.

Regarding suspicions of interference in the investigation of Ssangbangwool's illegal remittances to North Korea—which had been heralded as a "mega-scale state-affairs manipulation case" with promises of a sweeping investigation—the court put on the brakes, stating that it was "outside the scope of the independent counsel's investigation."

[Kwon Chang-young / Comprehensive Independent Counsel: We had our warrants dismissed twice by the court. It is unfortunate, but we had no choice but to drop it.]

The number of cases that failed to reach a conclusion and were handed back to the police totals 46.

The investigation lasted 180 days, extended twice for 30 days each and once more through a law revision, involving 251 dispatched personnel.

Despite being such a mega-scale independent counsel, it ultimately failed to clarify most of the remaining suspicions from the previous three independent counsels.

The arrest warrant dismissal rate reached 64%, with the court mostly determining that the explanations of charges were insufficient.

This is why criticism regarding a lack of investigative capability is difficult to avoid.

Concerns are also rising that proving the charges will not be easy, as most of the nearly 40 defendants mass-indicted toward the end of the investigation completely deny the charges, and the team plans to separately hire lawyers dedicated to trials to maintain the prosecution.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video Shooting: Yang Hyun-chul | Video Editing: Kim Jong-tae | Design: Lee Jae-jun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.