South Korean officials stopped from raiding presidency

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - Investigators were blocked from executing a search warrant at Seoul’s presidential office, known as the Blue House, on Friday on the pretext of security concerns, according to local media.

Special prosecutors had received a search-and-seizure warrant from the Seoul Central District Court a day earlier, as they probed a major power abuse scandal that led to December’s impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

The Blue House has never been raided before and has special legal protection against being forcibly searched -- but only if a raid is deemed to hurt the national interest.

“Given that the presidential compound is categorized as a security facility that handles military and official secrets, we cannot accept any raid in line with the existing customs,” a presidential official requesting anonymity explained to Yonhap news agency.

The official said the presidential office would cooperate by voluntarily submitting documents to investigators.

Prosecutors also failed to search the Blue House in October before handing over the case to special investigators.

It remains to be seen whether the ongoing probe will be able to include a direct interview with Park before it concludes later this month.

Either way, the Constitutional Court will decide on her impeachment by June after weighing up charges ranging from influence-peddling involving multiple aides and conglomerates to targeting critical artists.

Street protests against Park are set to continue around South Korea this weekend -- millions of people have taken part every Saturday since the scandal erupted in October.