South Korea Court Approves Arrest of President Yoon in Martial Law Investigation

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 Joint Investigation Headquarters informed the public on Sunday that 'arrest and search warrants have been issued against President Yoon Suk Yeol following a request made by the said agency today'.
"The said request was made as per a directive of the court issued today itself.
"The agencies concerned in this investigation are CIO, police and the Ministry of Defence officials, according to sources," says a statement put out by the Joint Investigation Headquarters.

It is unknown when officials may try to serve Yoon with an arrest warrant.

Yoon's security team has earlier refused to let the investigators conduct a series of search warrants on the presidential office complex and the president's official mansion.

The Presidential Security Service said in a statement that it would execute the warrant consistent with due processes shortly after the court made the ruling.

South Korean media speculate that Yoon is unlikely to be arrested soon as the authorities would look for coordination with the presidential security service.

If Yoon is arrested, investigators will have 48 hours to decide whether to apply for a warrant to detain him for further questioning or release him.

Yun Gap-geun, who is a lawyer for Yoon, said in a statement "is illegal and invalid", arguing that 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.

Floor leader Kwon Sung-dong of the People's Power Party of Yoon also attacked the court for issuing a warrant, saying it was "inappropriate".

Yoon is facing a possible life sentence, or even the death penalty, over his brief declaration 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 voted Friday 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.