It’s the first time for a warrant has been issued to detain a sitting South Korean president.
The Seoul Western District Court issued warrants to detain Yoon and to search the presidential office and residence in central Seoul, according to a statement from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military authorities.
Under South Korean law, the leader of a rebellion can face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted.
Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally near the presidential residence on December 31, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
Yoon’s powers have been suspended since the opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to impeach him on December 14 over his imposition of martial law, during which hundreds of troops and police officers were deployed at the assembly.
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 sympathizes with North Korea.
Experts said Yoon is likely to ignore the warrants. He’s already dodged repeated requests by investigative authorities to appear for questioning, and the presidential security service has blocked attempts to search his office and residence citing a law that bans raids on sites with state secrets.
The presidential security service said it will provide security to Yoon in accordance with the law.
“Unless Yoon voluntarily lets them detain him, there is no way to detain him,” said Choi Jin, director of the Seoul-based Institute of Presidential Leadership. “Should investigators have hand-to-hand fights with the security service?”
Park Sung-min, president of Seoul-based political consulting firm MIN Consulting, said the push for an arrest warrant is likely an attempt to pressure Yoon to cooperate with investigations.
Yoon’s imposition of martial law lasted only six hours but triggered huge political turmoil, halting high-level diplomacy and rattling financial markets.
Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the martial law enactment.
But comments by now-arrested commanders of military units sent to the assembly have contradicted this claim.
The country’s political crisis deepened last 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.
South Korea’s Finance Minister and new acting president Choi Sang-mok speaks as he presides over a meeting of the National Security Council at the Government Complex in Seoul on December 27, 2024. (Photo: YONHAP / AFP)The deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, has become South Korea’s new interim leader.
Fire and transportation officials have said they are still attempting to determine the cause of the crash, examining bird strikes, whether any of the aircraft’s control systems were disabled, and the apparent rush by the pilots to attempt a landing soon after declaring an emergency.
With wires
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