▲ Lee Eun-woo, former head of public broadcaster KTV, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in the capital on May 21, 2026, to attend his arrest warrant hearing. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) ex-KTV chief-arrest warrant

(LEAD) Court rejects arrest warrant for ex-KTV chief over alleged insurrection propaganda

(ATTN: CHANGES headline; UPDATES throughout with court decision on arrest warrant)

SEOUL, May 21 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Thursday denied an arrest warrant for a former head of public broadcaster KTV over allegations that he promoted insurrection in connection with former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law imposition in 2024.

The Seoul Central District Court rejected the arrest warrant sought against Lee Eun-woo, citing room for debate on whether the charges of promoting insurrection stand. It also pointed to a lack of evidence suggesting the risk of flight or the destruction of evidence.

Lee is accused of directing KTV to repeatedly broadcast reports asserting the legitimacy of Yoon's martial law for about 10 days after its Dec. 3, 2024, declaration, while suppressing and deleting reports critical of the emergency measure.

Lee arrived at the Seoul Central District Court earlier in the day to attend his arrest warrant hearing set for 10 a.m.

KTV is run by the Korea Policy Broadcasting Service, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The second comprehensive special counsel team led by Kwon Chang-young requested an arrest warrant for Lee on Monday on charges of propaganda for insurrection. It marked the first attempt by Kwon's team to secure custody of a suspect since its inauguration in February.

Lee was separately indicted by another special counsel team led by Cho Eun-suk last December and is now standing trial on charges of abuse of authority for allegedly ordering the removal of broadcast captions featuring politicians' remarks that described the martial law declaration as illegal and unconstitutional.

At that time, Cho's team cleared Lee of insurrection propaganda charges, judging that the alleged offense occurred after the lifting of martial law and that excessive punishment could stifle freedom of the press.

Cho's team has demanded a five-year prison term for Lee, with the sentencing hearing set for June 26.

Against this backdrop, some legal experts argue that Kwon's team's request for an arrest warrant could amount to a form of "double indictment," as it involves reinvestigating a case that has already led to an indictment.

Meanwhile, the special counsel team plans to review the court's reasoning behind Thursday's decision and decide whether to seek another warrant.

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