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

Court’s issuance of warrant marks first time South Korean authorities have sought to arrest a sitting president.

A South Korean court has issued an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law in a historic first.

Seoul Western District Court on Tuesday approved the warrant following a request by the Joint Investigation Headquarters, which is investigating the embattled South Korean leader for insurrection and abuse of power.

“The arrest warrant and search warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, requested by the Joint Investigation Headquarters, were issued this morning,” the Joint Investigation Headquarters, which includes officials from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), police and the defence ministry, said in a statement.

The move marks the first time authorities have sought to arrest a sitting South Korean president. It is unclear when authorities might attempt to take Yoon into custody.

Yoon’s security detail previously blocked investigators from executing a number of search warrants at the presidential office compound and the president’s official residence.

The Presidential Security Service (PSS) said in a statement shortly after the court’s decision it would handle the warrant in accordance with legal processes.

South Korean media have speculated Yoon is unlikely to be arrested imminently as authorities would seek to coordinate with the PSS.

If Yoon is taken into custody, investigators would have 48 hours to decide whether to apply for a warrant to detain him for further questioning or release him.

Injunction sought

Yun Gap-geun, a lawyer for Yoon, said in a statement the warrant is “illegal and invalid”, arguing the CIO does not have the authority to investigate the president for insurrection.

Yun said the president’s legal team will seek an injunction at the Constitutional Court to invalidate the warrant.

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

Yoon faces possible life imprisonment, or even the death penalty, over his brief imposition of martial law on December 3, which has plunged the East Asian nation into its biggest political crisis in decades.

While Yoon cannot be prosecuted for most crimes while he is the president, he does not have immunity in cases of rebellion or treason.

Yoon, who served as the nation’s top prosecutor before entering politics, has been suspended from his duties since December 14 when the National Assembly voted for his impeachment in a 204-85 vote.

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

The Democratic Party and several minor opposition parties voted to impeach Han over his refusal to immediately appoint three justices to fill vacancies on the Constitutional Court, which is deliberating 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 restored to the presidency.

Yoon has defended his brief martial law decree as legal and necessary citing the threat of “anti-state forces” and obstructionism by his opposition rivals.