A South Korean court has released an arrest warrant for the impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol after he briefly proclaimed the imposition of martial law, a court martial, which marks the first of its kind.
The motion was approved on Tuesday after a request was made by the Joint Investigation Headquarters that was investigating the Martial Law and abuse of power by President Yoon.
The arrest warrant and the search warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol were requested by the Joint Investigation Headquarters and were issued this morning. It read the Korruption Investigation Officers, police, and Defend Ministry officials were all in agreement. South Korean authorities for the first time have attempted to execute an arrest warrant for the president.
It is unclear how much more time the authorities of South Korea would take to carry out the arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Thus far security detail has been available preventing any form of searches from operationalizing against the Secretary of the Presidential office and the Presidents offficial residences.
During the brief interactions with the official representatives of the news outlets the Presidential Security Service stated that the guidelines would be followed in accordance to the Legal rules after the requisite decision from the courts.
The South Korean media has speculated that any arrest of Yoon is unlikely to come soon, as it would have to be coordinated with the presidential security service.
In case Yoon is taken into custody, then the investigators would get within 48 hours to decide whether to apply for a warrant to detain him further for interrogation or to release him.
In a statement, Yun Gap-geun, a lawyer for Yoon, declared the warrant “illegal and invalid”, adding the CIO does not have the legal authority to investigate the president for insurrection.
Kwon Sung-dong, floor leader of Yoon’s People’s Power Party, criticized the court’s issuance of the warrant as “inappropriate”.
For what is widely seen as the fleeting imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, Yoon risks life in prison, or even the death penalty, an event that has plunged this East Asian nation into its most intense political crisis in decades.
Still, while the president himself can’t stand trial for most crimes, he does not enjoy any immunity in cases related to rebellion and treason.
Yoon has been suspended from his duties since December 14, when the National Assembly voted for his impeachment in a 204-85 vote.
In an escalation of the country’s leadership crisis, the opposition-controlled legislature on Friday voted to also impeach acting president Han Duck-soo, passing presidential authority to Deputy Prime.