South Korean court issues arrest warrant for Yoon over martial law decree | News

STORY DEVELOPMENTSTORY DEVELOPMENT,

The court’s issuance of the warrant is the first time South Korean authorities have attempted to detain a sitting president.

A court in South Korea has issued an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived declaration of a state of emergency in history.

The Western District Court in Seoul on Tuesday granted the warrant following a request by the Joint Investigation Staff, which is investigating the embattled South Korean leader for rebellion and abuse of power.

“An arrest warrant and a search warrant were issued this morning for President Yoon Suk Yeol, requested by the Joint Investigation Staff,” the Joint Investigation Staff, which includes officials from the Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO), the police and the Ministry of Defense said .

The move marks the first time authorities have attempted to detain a sitting South Korean president.

It’s unclear when authorities might try to take Yoon into custody.

Yoon’s security had previously prevented investigators from executing numerous search warrants at the presidential office complex and the president’s official residence.

South Korean media have speculated that Yoon is unlikely to be arrested anytime soon as authorities are likely to seek to coordinate with the presidential security service.

Yun Gap-geun, Yoon’s lawyer, said in a statement that the warrant was “illegal and invalid,” arguing that the CIO had no authority to investigate the president for sedition.

Kwon Sung-dong, leader of Yoon’s People Power Party, also criticized the court’s decision to issue the order, describing it as “inappropriate”.

Yoon faces possible life in prison or even the death penalty for briefly imposing a state of emergency on Dec. 3, which plunged the East Asian nation into its worst political crisis in decades.

Yoon has been suspended from his duties since December 14, when the National Assembly voted for his impeachment by a vote of 204-85.

In deepening the country’s leadership crisis, the opposition-controlled legislature on Friday also voted to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo, transferring presidential powers to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok.

The Democratic Party and several smaller opposition parties voted to impeach Han over his refusal to immediately appoint three judges to fill vacancies on the Constitutional Court, which decides whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment.

The court has up to six months to make its decision, after which Yoon will either be removed from office or reinstated as president.