Joint investigation unit requests arrest warrant for suspended president over brief imposition of martial law.

South Korean authorities have requested an arrest warrant for suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law.

South Korea’s Joint Investigation Headquarters said on Monday that it sought Yoon’s arrest on insurrection and abuse of power charges.

The joint investigative team, comprised of officials from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), the police and the Ministry of Defence, said it sought the arrest warrant after the impeached leader ignored three summonses to appear for questioning.

Investigators said they raided the army’s counterintelligence offices Tuesday, saying in a statement that the CIO was “conducting a search and seizure operation” as part of its martial law probe.

A court will decide whether to issue a warrant following the request to detain Yoon, which would be a first in South Korean history.

While Yoon is immune from prosecution for most crimes as a sitting president, he is not protected from legal consequences in cases of rebellion or treason.

Yun Gap-geun, a lawyer for Yoon, told the state-funded Yonhap News Agency that the CIO was acting beyond its authority and he would take “formal steps” in response.

Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law on December 3 stunned South Korea, plunging the East Asian nation into its biggest political crisis in decades.

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

The conservative leader, who served as the country’s top-ranking prosecutor before entering politics, is facing criminal charges of insurrection, a crime punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty.

Following Yoon’s decree, heavily armed troops stormed the National Assembly and clashed with lawmakers in dramatic scenes that recalled memories of South Korea’s past military dictatorships.

Prosecutors have alleged that Yoon told a top-ranking defence official to give soldiers the authority to fire their weapons if necessary to enter the legislature.

The state of martial law lasted about six hours before Yoon agreed to lift the order following a unanimous vote by lawmakers.

Yoon has defended his brief martial law declaration as a legal and necessary act, citing the threat of “anti-state forces” and obstructionism by the opposition Democratic Party (DP).

Constitutional Court justices to be appointed

Meanwhile on Tuesday, South Korean Acting President Choi Sang-mok said he will appoint two Constitutional Court justices immediately, and appoint a third justice when ruling and opposition parties agree.

The previous acting president, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, was impeached on Friday over his refusal to immediately appoint the three justices of the Constitutional Court, which is deliberating whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment.

The DP and several minor opposition parties voted to impeach Han in a National Assembly vote boycotted by Yoon’s People Power Party.

The court has up to six months to make its decision, after which Yoon will either be removed from office or restored to the presidency.

At its first preparatory hearing on Friday, the court denied a request by Yoon’s lawyers for a postponement in proceedings to allow the South Korean leader to better prepare his case.