Live from Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office: Pres. Yoon's case transferred from CIO to prosecution

Today, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials officially transferred its investigation of President Yoon Suk Yeol to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

For more, we have our Kim Jung-sil standing by live at the prosecution's office here in the capital city.

Jung-sil, Welcome. Let's begin with this latest development.

Thank you, Jung-min.

The atmosphere here at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office is rather quiet this evening, with the investigation into President Yoon officially transferred here today.

This morning, the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) formally requested the prosecution to take over the investigation into President Yoon, more than 50 days after his December 3rd martial law declaration.

Take a listen to a comment from a CIO official earlier today.

"The CIO has today decided to request the prosecution of the suspect in accordance with Article 26, Section 1 of the CIO Act, and has referred the case to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office."

Why has the case been transferred earlier than expected, and what led to this decision?

Jungmin, the case was handed over earlier than planned due to President Yoon's refusal to cooperate with the CIO.

Despite their best efforts, including securing warrants that led to the president's arrest and detention, the CIO faces a backlash as the investigation continues to hit a stalemate.

The only session he attended was for 10 hours on the first day of his arrest, where he remained silent.

Yoon refused to appear for further questioning, citing health and security concerns.

The CIO also faced repeated interference from the Presidential Security Service in its attempts to seize evidence, including the president's secret phone.

Given these challenges, the CIO decided it would be more effective for the prosecution to take over, which it was initially expected to do on January 28th.

Now, all eyes will be on the prosecutors in the office behind me as they carry out this unprecedented investigation.

Now, what's the expected about the prosecution's investigation?

The prosecution will continue investigating the allegations of insurrection and abuse of power flagged by the CIO, reviewing as many as 30,000 pages of records handed over by the CIO.

While insurrection charges are typically handled by the police, no sitting president has ever been investigated by them; past investigations of former presidents were conducted by the prosecution.

Legal experts note that while President Yoon's argument is technically valid, it does not prevent the prosecution or CIO from pursuing the case.

"Technically, it's true that the power to investigate crimes of insurrection has been given to the police but the prosecution office retains the power to investigate any further crimes that are related to crimes they are already investigating."

Now the question is , will the president cooperate this time?

It remains uncertain, Jung-min. President Yoon, having served as prosecutor general, knows the process well, so his actions will be strategic.

We will just have to keep a close eye on this. That's all from me, back to you.

All right Jung-sil thank you for that coverage.

That was our Kim Jung-sil reporting live from the prosecutors' office.