South Korean court issues arrest warrant for impeached president who declared martial law
31 December 2024, 02:15
The South Korean anti-corruption agency said on Tuesday that a court has issued a warrant to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.
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The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials said in a statement that the Seoul Western District Court issued the warrant to detain Mr Yoon over his short-lived martial law decree earlier this month.
The agency said it is investigating whether his declaration of martial law amounted to rebellion.
Mr Yoon's powers have been suspended since the opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to impeach him on December 14.
The Constitutional Court will determine whether to dismiss Mr Yoon as president or reinstate him.
He has ignored repeated requests by investigative authorities to appear for questioning and allow them to search his office.
Mr Yoon has the presidential privilege of immunity from criminal prosecution, but it does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason.
In his martial law announcement earlier this month, Mr Yoon called parliament a "den of criminals" bogging down state affairs and vowed to eliminate "shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces".
The anti-corruption agency said it has no immediate plans on how to proceed with the court-issued warrants.
Many observers earlier doubted that authorities would forcefully detain him because of the potential for clashes with the presidential security service.
They say the security service likely will not permit searches of Mr Yoon's office, citing a law that prohibits searches on sites with state secrets without approval from those in charge of those areas.
Mr Yoon's imposition of martial law lasted only six hours but triggered huge political turmoil, halting high-level diplomacy and rattling financial markets.
The president sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly to block a vote on his decree, but enough members managed to enter the assembly chamber to overturn it unanimously.
Mr Yoon has argued his decree was a legitimate act of governance, calling it a warning to the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which he has called "a monster" and "anti-state forces" that has used its legislative majority to impeach top officials, undermine the government's budget and which he claims sympathises with North Korea.
The country's political crisis deepened on Friday when the Democratic Party and other small opposition parties voted to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo as well over wrangling over his refusal to fill in three justice seats at the Constitutional Court.
Observers say adding more justices could affect the court's ruling on Mr Yoon's impeachment.
The deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, has become South Korea's new interim leader.
Since taking office in 2022 for a single five-year term, Mr Yoon has struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament and grappled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving himself and his wife.
