South Korean court issues warrant to arrest President Yoon on impeachment charges

A Seoul court has issued an arrest warrant for suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for his attempt to impose martial law on December 3.

The order comes after Yoon, who faces several investigations on charges of insurrection and treason, ignored three summonses to appear for questioning over the past two weeks.

On Sunday night, investigators sought an arrest warrant for Yoon on charges of insurrection and abuse of power, a move his attorney described as “illegal.”

South Korea has been in political crisis since the brief declaration of martial law, with Yoon and a successor both indicted by parliament.

Yoon is the first sitting South Korean president to face arrest.

The court order gives investigators 48 hours to detain and question him.

However, it is unclear whether investigators will be able to carry out the order as they could be thwarted by his security team and protesters.

The presidential security service had previously blocked investigators from accessing the presidential office grounds and Yoon’s private residence to conduct court-approved searches.

In the past, South Korean authorities abandoned arrest attempts against prominent politicians after their advisers and supporters physically blocked police.

On Monday, Yoon’s legal team said investigators had no authority to arrest him since declaring martial law was within the president’s constitutional authority.

Yoon had previously defended his decision to declare martial law and He promised to “fight until the end” – although he also said he would not shirk his legal and political responsibilities.

His lawyer, Yun Gap-geun, said Yoon’s failure to comply with the three previous subpoenas was due to “legitimate concerns.”

Yoon’s whereabouts are not publicly known, but he has been banned from leaving the country.

While he has been suspended from his presidential duties since December 14 after lawmakers voted in favor of his removal, he can only be removed from office if his impeachment is upheld by the country’s constitutional court.

Currently there are only six judges of the nine members of the Constitutional Court. This means that a single rejection would save Yoon from being eliminated.

Opposition lawmakers had hoped the appointment of three additional judges would improve Yoon’s chances of being charged, but their proposal was vetoed by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo last week.

The opposition has since voted to impeach Han, who had taken over as interim leader after Yoon was suspended.

Now they are threatening to do the same to Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, who currently serves as president and acting prime minister.

Additional reporting by Kelly Ng