South Korea Arrest warrant for suspended President Yoon extended
A court in the South Korean capital Seoul has extended the arrest warrant against suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol at the request of the anti-corruption authority (CIO). This was reported by the official news agency Yonhap, citing local officials.
07.01.2025, 14:37
SDA
With the extension, the CIO is expected to try again soon to execute the arrest warrant against Yoon, Yonhap added.
The original arrest warrant against Yoon had expired Monday midnight (local time) after CIO officials failed to arrest the suspended president.
Most recently, dozens of investigators had tried for more than five hours on Friday to detain Yoon for questioning in the case surrounding the brief imposition of martial law in early December.
However, around 200 members of the army and security service stood in their way on the grounds of the president's residence. For security reasons, the attempted arrest was finally called off.
Yoon is accused of abuse of power and sedition
Yoon is still in his residence, which is shielded by high walls and guarded by dozens of members of the presidential security service. In addition, hundreds of supporters of the suspended president are camped out in front of the entrance to the residence.
The background to the arrest warrant is an investigation into Yoon after he briefly declared martial law on December 3 in a budget dispute with the opposition. Parliament later voted in favor of his impeachment.
The Constitutional Court is currently reviewing this decision. For the time being, the former Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang Mok is in charge of state affairs.
The accusations against Yoon are abuse of power and sedition. Before the attempted arrest, he had ignored three summonses from the anti-corruption authority. The latter finally applied to a court for an arrest warrant.
