Four People Power Party lawmakers indicted for blocking Yoon's arrest

A second comprehensive special prosecutor's team — tasked with investigating allegations left unresolved after three earlier special counsel probes into insurrection, first lady Kim Keon Hee and the Marine Corps death case — has indicted four sitting People Power Party lawmakers on charges of obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant for former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The special prosecutor's team, led by Special Prosecutor Kwon Chang-young, said Friday it had indicted PPP lawmakers Na Kyung-won, Kim Ki-hyun, Yun Sang-hyun and Kwon Young-jin without detention on charges of obstructing special public duties.

According to the team, the four lawmakers and a large number of supporters formed a human wall in front of the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, in January last year, during the execution of an arrest warrant by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. They used collective force to obstruct investigators and prosecutors from lawfully carrying out their duties, the team said.

The insurrection special prosecutor's office, led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok, had previously received complaints against the lawmakers but declined to indict them, ruling that the charges were not substantiated. The current team, however, determined that the charges were supported by testimony from multiple civil servants, video footage taken at the scene during the warrant execution, and recordings of abusive language captured in that footage.

"Based on a comprehensive review of legal principles applied to similar cases, analysis of guilty verdicts and other objective evidence, we confirmed that the suspects did not merely express opposition to the arrest — they formed a human wall with others present at the scene and physically blocked entry into the residence, effectively obstructing the execution of the warrant," the team said.

During the investigation, the team drew controversy by suggesting the insurrection special prosecutor's office had conducted no investigation into the lawmakers at all. The insurrection special prosecutor's office pushed back, saying it had "reviewed and analyzed statements gathered from numerous police officers and made its disposition in accordance with the law."