Former People Power Party Floor Leader Choo Kyung-ho walked free from Seoul Correction Center in Uiwang Gyeonggi Province early Wednesday after the court refused a warrant for his arrest.
The three-term lawmaker has been subject to an investigation investigation led by special counsel Cho Eun-suk, which argued he attempted to support former President Yoon Suk Yeol's illegal declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.
Choo, as the then floor leader of the People Power Party to which Yoon belonged, is accused of obstructing his party's lawmakers from taking part in a parliamentary vote to lift the martial law decree. He is suspected of deliberately and repeatedly changing the venue of an emergency party meeting on the night of Dec. 3 at the request of the then president.
The court said Choo's detention could not be justified as there was reason to dispute the accusation, and there was no evidence that he was likely to flee or destroy evidence.
18 of the PPP's 108 lawmakers took part in the parliamentary vote to lift Yoon's decree, which passed unanimously early the next morning among the 190 lawmakers present.
Choo has rejected the allegations, arguing that he changed the party meeting's venue from the National Assembly to the party's headquarters because police restricted access to the parliamentary compound.
khnews@heraldcorp.com
