Court approves arrest of South Korea’s president

State crisis

Court approves arrest of South Korea’s president

Yoon Suk Yeol could become the first South Korean president to be arrested while in office. Law enforcement had submitted an application for this. But investigators could face a hurdle.

A court in South Korea has approved a request to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol after he ignored three summonses from authorities. This was reported by the official Yonhap news agency. The law enforcement agency, which is investigating Yoon for abuse of power and sedition, had previously filed a corresponding application. Yoon could become the country’s first president to be arrested during a single term. It was initially unclear when this might happen.

According to Yonhap, an arrest warrant is usually valid for one week. Once Yoon is in custody, investigators will have 48 hours to question him and decide whether to seek an arrest warrant or release him. The court also reportedly authorized the search of Yoon’s presidential residence.

However, it is questionable whether law enforcement can carry out the arrest, since the presidential security service had previously blocked access to the grounds of Yoon’s official residence. Yoon’s defense attorneys had questioned whether corruption investigators had the authority to investigate sedition.

The president had previously ignored three subpoenas from the Office of Corruption Investigation for questioning in connection with his brief declaration of martial law earlier this month. An investigation is underway against Yoon because he unexpectedly imposed martial law in the middle of the budget dispute at the beginning of December and lifted it again hours later.

Since then, South Korea has been in a serious state crisis. The current Finance Minister and Vice Prime Minister Choi Sang Mok is currently temporarily running state affairs. On Tuesday he appointed two more constitutional judges, so that only one of the nine seats is vacant. Choi thus accommodated the opposition.

The National Assembly voted to remove Yoon from office in mid-December. Yoon recently defended his controversial decision by saying he had declared martial law to protect the nation. The opposition accuses him of violating the constitution.

The Constitutional Court has begun the relevant procedure and is now examining whether Parliament’s decision was unconstitutional or compliant. With only six judge positions filled so far, one dissenting vote would have been enough to declare the decision invalid. Yoon would then have been president again. According to the opposition, Choi’s predecessor, interim President Han Duck Soo, wanted to complicate the process by refusing to fill the vacant judge positions. Parliament then relieved him of his duties through impeachment proceedings.