First lady Kim Keon Hee listens to President Yoon Suk Yeol's keynote speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 20, 2024. Newsis

First lady Kim Keon Hee expressed strong anger toward the Presidential Security Service (PSS) after President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested earlier this year, demanding to know why agents "didn't fire" during the arrest.

Police are now considering her remarks as key evidence suggesting an intention to obstruct law enforcement's execution of a detention warrant by force.

According to multiple sources the Hankook Ilbo contacted, these statements were included in the warrant request submitted to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office for Kim Sung-hoon, deputy chief of the PSS, and Lee Kwang-woo, chief of the service's bodyguard division. Prosecutors reviewed additional evidence submitted by police before filing the request.

Kim reportedly visited the family protection desk within the Hannam-dong presidential residence on Jan. 15, shortly after Yoon's arrest, and became visibly angry.

She criticized the security officers for not preventing the execution of the warrant, saying, "I'm disappointed in the security service. Guns are meant to be used for this. What were you doing not firing them?"

She also reportedly said, "Honestly, I feel like shooting (Democratic Party of Korea leader) Lee Jae-myung and taking my own life."

At the time, the head of the family protection unit, Kim Shin, was briefly away from the office, and a startled security officer immediately reported the situation to him by phone. During a forensic examination of Kim Shin's mobile phone, seized during a February search and seizure, police discovered a recorded phone call in which the security officer relayed Kim Keon Hee's remarks.

The police special investigative team under the National Office of Investigation, which is looking into martial law-related suspicions, views this as evidence that Yoon may have also supported or considered firearm use, given the first lady's close relationship with him.

President Yoon Suk Yeol greets supporters in front of the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, March 8, after being released. At right is Presidential Security Service Deputy Chief Kim Sung-hoon. Newsis

Investigators believe this could indicate that security officers may have received indirect authorization to use firearms.

Yoon had discussed the use of firearms during a luncheon with senior security officials on Jan. 10, following a failed first attempt to execute his arrest warrant on Jan. 3.

Then-Chief of the PSS Park Jong-jun resigned that morning and appeared before police. During the luncheon, Yoon asked, "Can't we use guns (during the arrest)?" to which the deputy chief replied, "Yes, understood."

Ahead of the second attempt to execute the arrest warrant on Jan. 15, bodyguard division chief Lee Kwang-woo instructed his team to retrieve two MP7 submachine guns and 80 rounds of live ammunition from the presidential residence armory and station them at the family protection unit.

"If the secondary gate is breached, run out with the submachine guns," he told them. However, the security officers ultimately did not act on these orders, and no physical clashes occurred between law enforcement and security personnel during the arrest.

The presidential office has maintained that Yoon had instructed the security team to avoid physical confrontation and respond peacefully, denying any directive regarding the use of firearms. When contacted for comment on Kim Keon Hee's remarks, both the Presidential Office and the PSS said, "We have no comment."

Kim Sung-hoon and Lee Kwang-woo face criminal charges, including abuse of power and obstruction of official duties, stemming from allegations that they attempted to block the arrest and ordered the deletion of call records from encrypted presidential phones.

Their pretrial detention hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Seoul Western District Court.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.