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Choo Kyung-ho, a lawmaker of the People Power Party accused of obstructing the National Assembly’s December 3 martial-law termination vote, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court for a warrant hearing on December 2. / Photo by Park Sung-il

A Seoul court has dismissed the arrest warrant request for Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the People Power Party, who is accused of interfering with the National Assembly’s vote to terminate the December 3 martial law order.

Judge Lee Jeong-jae of the Seoul Central District Court, who handles pretrial warrants, said on Wednesday that there is “room for dispute over both the factual allegations and their legal interpretation” in relation to Choo’s charge of engaging in a key role in an insurrection. The judge added that it would be more appropriate “to reach a judgment and impose any necessary punishment after full and thorough arguments in open court,” rejecting the need for pretrial detention. The court also noted that Choo’s residence, career history, the progress of the investigation, his record of appearances, and the degree of evidence collected did not support concerns about flight risk or destruction of evidence. “He needs to be able to exercise his right to defense while remaining out of detention,” the ruling stated.

With the special counsel’s investigation period nearing its end, the dismissal represents a major setback for the probe into whether ruling party lawmakers obstructed the Assembly vote.

Investigators allege that on December 3 last year, ahead of a plenary vote on terminating martial law, Choo repeatedly changed the location of the party caucus in order to hinder lawmakers from participating in the vote.

Choo underwent a nine-hour warrant hearing from 3 p.m. Tuesday until nearly midnight.

Leaving the courthouse at 12:03 a.m. Wednesday, he told reporters he had “answered faithfully” and said he hoped for “a fair ruling by the court.” He declined to respond to questions about whether he intentionally interfered with the vote or why he did not convey concerns about the legality of the martial law order.

The special counsel, who applied for the arrest warrant on November 3, argues that Choo acted after receiving a call from former president Yoon Suk-yeol shortly after martial law was declared, allegedly asking him to help prevent ruling party lawmakers from joining the termination vote. The team suspects that Choo sought to delay or disrupt the Assembly’s ability to convene.

The special counsel deployed six prosecutors, including Deputy Special Counsel Park Eok-su and Senior Prosecutor Choi Jae-sun, for the hearing. They submitted a 741-page written opinion, consisting of a 304-page presentation and 123 pages of supplemental materials.

In a briefing the previous day, Deputy Counsel Park Ji-young said, “At a moment when citizens’ basic rights were being trampled and the National Assembly was brutally suppressed by the military, the ruling party floor leader’s failure to perform his rightful duty highlights the severity of the offense.” She added that the hearing would address concerns of evidence destruction, noting that Choo had “not fully cooperated” during parts of the investigation.

Choo has denied the allegations, saying he “never encouraged or induced any lawmaker to abstain from voting.”