Seoul, South Korea:
South Korean anti-graft investigators on Tuesday obtained a new judicial arrest warrant for deposed President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose failed martial law threw the country into turmoil. The former chief prosecutor has refused to undergo questioning three times after his bungled martial law decree plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.
When anti-graft officials and police received their new arrest warrant from the same court that issued the first warrant, Yoon remained locked in his home, surrounded by hundreds of guards who prevented his detention.
“The re-applied arrest warrant for suspect Yoon was issued today in the afternoon,” the Joint Investigation Headquarters said in a statement.
Seoul’s Western District Court declined to confirm when contacted by AFP.
The Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is leading the investigation into the president, has kept the duration of the order secret after the initial seven-day order expired.
If investigators can arrest Yoon, he would become the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested.
But they would have just 48 hours to either apply for a new arrest warrant to keep him in custody or be forced to release him.
The anti-graft officials have sought more time and help because of the difficulties they have faced, including encountering hundreds of security forces as they entered Yoon’s presidential residence on Friday.
Yoon is under investigation on charges of insurrection and if formally arrested and convicted, he could face prison time or, in the worst case, the death penalty.
His lawyers repeatedly said the original order was “unlawful” and vowed to take further legal action against it.
They have argued that the CIO does not have the authority to investigate because insurrection is not included in the list of crimes it can investigate.
The vibrant East Asian democracy is in uncharted territory regardless of the outcome of Yoon’s case: the sitting president will have been arrested or he would have evaded court-ordered detention.
‘Fortress’
CIO chief Oh Dong-woon apologized Tuesday for the failed first arrest attempt, saying he was “heartbroken.”
“I must sincerely apologize to the public for the failure to execute the arrest warrant due to the security measures taken by the Presidential Security Service,” he told lawmakers in the National Assembly.
Yoon’s presidential guard refused to budge during a six-hour standoff at his home on Friday.
The CIO was founded less than four years ago and has fewer than a hundred employees, who have yet to prosecute a single case.
“They obviously have no previous experience with arrests, let alone with something as important as arresting the president,” said Yun Bok-nam, president of Lawyers for a Democratic Society, who is not involved in the investigation.
South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party told AFP on Monday it had filed a legal complaint against acting President Choi Sang-mok for “dereliction of duty” after he failed to intervene as they requested.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has scheduled the start of Yoon’s impeachment trial on January 14, which would continue in his absence if he were not present.
Local media reported he was likely to appear on the opening day, but Yoon’s lawyer told AFP his appearance was still “undecided”.
Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared in their impeachment proceedings in 2004 and 2016-2017, respectively.
The court has a maximum of 180 days to decide whether Yoon should be fired or become president again.
Opposition party member Youn Kun-young told local media that Yoon’s residence “turned into a fortress,” claiming guards installed barbed wire and vehicle barricades.
Many supporters have also camped outside his hometown despite the freezing weather.
Although officials have been unable to reach Yoon, the joint investigation team has been hunting for top military officials behind the martial law plan.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)