Arrest warrant sought for South Korean president

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.

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).

The country’s leadership crisis intensified on Friday after the opposition-controlled legislature voted to also impeach acting president Han Duck-soo, handing presidential authority to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok.

The DP and several minor opposition parties voted to impeach Han after he refused to immediately appoint three justices to fill vacancies on the Constitutional Court, which is deliberating whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment.

MNA/