President Yoon Suk-yeol’s detention will be decided by a South Korean court as part of an investigation into martial law.
According to an official on Monday, South Korea’s joint investigative team has asked for an arrest warrant for suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol for imposing martial law for a brief period of time earlier this month.
Police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials have summoned Yoon to question him several times, but he has not responded. The two organizations are working together to determine if Yoon’s declaration of martial law on December 3 amounted to rebellion.
This is the first time a South Korean sitting president has had an arrest warrant requested.
Following the request, a Seoul court will determine whether to issue an arrest warrant.
One of the rare offenses for which a South Korean president is not immune is insurrection.
The suspended president’s attorney, Yoon Kab-keun, told the Yonhap news agency that the anti-corruption agency is not authorized to look into rebellion accusations.
Reuters reached out to him for comment, but he did not immediately reply.
Martial law
After being impeached by parliament earlier this month for his decision to temporarily impose martial law, Yoon was suspended from his position as president.
When masked martial law soldiers with guns, body armor, and night vision gear entered the parliament, they were confronted by staff members with fire extinguishers.
Yoon retracted the proclamation after it was voted down by the parliament in a matter of hours.
The action startled the country, which has been a democracy since the 1980s, and alarmed trading partners with the fourth-largest economy in Asia as well as friends like the United States.
The Constitutional Court is currently considering whether to remove Yoon from office permanently or reinstate him. It must make a decision within 180 days.
At the court’s first preparatory session on Friday, Yoon’s attorneys’ request for a postponement of the hearings so they could better prepare was turned down.
The court promised to proceed quickly. January 3 is the date of the upcoming hearing.
