SEOUL: In the first instance of a sitting president of the nation being arrested, a South Korean court approved on Tuesday the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol in connection with a criminal probe into his martial law decree.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) reported that an arrest warrant sought by detectives looking into Yoon’s brief martial law imposition was granted by the Seoul Western District Court.
As one of the rare criminal charges against which a South Korean president is not immune, Yoon, who has been suspended from office, is being investigated on claims that he led an uprising. The Constitutional Court is hearing his impeachment trial separately.
The unusual arrest warrant for an incumbent president exacerbates the political turmoil that has gripped South Korea, a crucial US ally and the fourth-largest economy in Asia.
After Yoon is arrested, investigators have just 48 hours under the warrant to hold him.
The opposition-dominated parliament has also impeached Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who succeeded Yoon as acting president.
Following Han’s impeachment, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok assumed the role of acting president and has been coping with the Jeju Air flight 7C2216 crash on Sunday, which claimed 179 lives and was the greatest air tragedy to ever strike South Korea.
The present arrest warrant only allows detectives to keep Yoon for 48 hours following his arrest and is valid until January 6. After then, investigators have to choose between releasing him and requesting a detention warrant.
The impeached president’s attorney, Yoon Kab-keun, said that the arrest warrant was unlawful and void since the CIO lacked the legal jurisdiction to request one under South Korean law. According to him, the president’s legal team would petition the Constitutional Court for an injunction to halt the warrant.
On Tuesday, hundreds of Yoon fans demonstrated against the warrant outside his home, with some of them fighting with police.
According to Yonhap, the district court issued the warrant because there was a good basis to believe Yoon was guilty of a crime and because it was likely that Yoon would not answer the summons without a valid explanation. The court chose not to respond.
When and how Yoon’s arrest warrant will be executed were not made apparent. In a statement released Tuesday, South Korea’s presidential security service stated that it will follow due process while handling the arrest warrant.
Three senior defense officers have already been charged by prosecutors in relation to Yoon’s martial law.
Yeo In-hyung, chief of Defence Counterintelligence Command, Lee Jin-woo, commander of the Capital Defence Command, and former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun, whose trial will begin on January 16, have all been charged, and more are anticipated.
