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| ▲ Former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae (C) leaves the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul after attending a hearing on whether to issue an arrest warrant against him on Oct. 14, 2025. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) ex-justice minister-arrest warrant
(LEAD) Court rejects arrest warrant for ex-justice minister in martial law probe
(ATTN: UPDATES with special counsel's briefing in paras 4-5; ADDS byline)
By Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Wednesday rejected a warrant to arrest former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae over his alleged role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed imposition of martial law.
The Seoul Central District Court said it denied the warrant sought by special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team, citing a lack of justification for an arrest or concerns about flight or evidence tampering.
It added there was room for Park to dispute whether the actions he took violated the law.
Cho's team said it would file for Park's arrest warrant again, arguing that the court's dismissal was difficult to accept.
"The special counsel plans to take action to quickly receive a court decision again," assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said in a briefing.
Park, the former minister, has been accused by the team of playing a key role in an insurrection and abusing his power in connection with the martial law attempt in December.
Investigators believe Park helped Yoon's effort to impose martial law, such as by allegedly ordering the possible dispatch of a prosecutor to a joint investigation headquarters set up under the now dismantled martial law command.
He is also suspected of ordering the Korea Immigration Service to put a team on standby to impose travel bans on people arrested under martial law, and directing the Korea Correctional Service to secure space to incarcerate politicians and others.
Park's side has denied wrongdoing, saying the instructions were standard orders to prepare for eventualities.
The latest decision comes after the court denied an arrest warrant sought against former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in August over his alleged role in Yoon's martial law declaration.
(END)
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