Court issues arrest warrant on impeached South Korea president, Yoon

Credit: dpa/NAN

A South Korean court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol, the Yonhap news agency reported.

The Corruption Investigation Office is investigating Yoon for unexpectedly imposing martial law on Dec. 3.

The office applied for an arrest warrant on Monday after Yoon ignored three summonses to appear for questioning.

Yoon is the first sitting South Korean president to face an arrest, according to Yonhap.

Once Yoon has been taken into custody, the office has 48 hours to decide whether to apply for an additional warrant to detain him for longer or release him, Yonhap reported.

However, the Presidential Security Service has blocked investigators from entering the presidential office compound and Yoon’s official residence to carry out court-approved searches, citing military security concerns.

Yoon’s botched attempt to institute martial law shocked the nation but was rescinded just hours later following massive public resistance.

South Korea has been in political crisis ever since.

The National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon on Dec. 14, and the Constitutional Court has launched the relevant proceedings to take a final decision on whether the assembly’s vote is constitutional or not.

Choi Sang Mok has been acting president since Friday, after lawmakers voted to impeach then-acting president Han Duck Soo, barely two weeks after Yoon was removed from the presidency.

Yoon has labelled his political opponents “anti-state forces” and said that he made the declaration of martial law to protect the nation.