SEOUL: 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 Ministry of Defence, said in a statement.
The move marks the first time authorities have sought to detain a sitting South Korean president.
It is unclear when authorities might attempt to take Yoon into custody.
Yoon’s security detail has 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 said in a statement shortly after the court’s decision that it would handle the warrant in accordance with legal processes.
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South Korean media have speculated that Yoon is unlikely to be arrested imminently as authorities would seek to coordinate with the presidential security service.
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.
Yun Gap-geun, a lawyer for Yoon, said in a statement that the warrant was “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.
