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| South Korean impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol | Photo: Reuters |
A South Korean court has issued an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol.
The court approved the warrant on Tuesday. The country's relevant investigative authorities confirmed this information.
Yun declared martial law in South Korea on December 3. But he was forced to withdraw it after six hours in the face of strong public protests. As a result, he was impeached by parliament on December 14. He was temporarily suspended from his duties as president. If the country's Constitutional Court upholds Yun's impeachment, he can be removed from office.
South Korea's Office for the Investigation of Corruption of High-ranking Officials (CIO) confirmed that the Seoul Western District Court today approved investigators' request to issue an arrest warrant against Yoon. Investigators are investigating Yun's decision to impose martial law.
According to local media reports, this is the first time in South Korean history that an arrest warrant has been issued for a sitting president.
The CIO did not comment on the reasoning used by the court in granting the application for the issuance of an arrest warrant. The court also declined to comment on the matter.
It is unclear when or how the arrest warrant issued against Yun will be executed.
The agency responsible for the security of the South Korean president said in a statement today that it would consider the warrant according to due process.
The CIO said the court also approved a search warrant for Yun's residence.
South Korean police had previously attempted to raid the president's office as part of the investigation but were unable to do so due to obstruction from the agency responsible for the president's security.
Yoon faces a criminal investigation into possible treason charges. South Korean presidents have no immunity from prosecution when it comes to treason-related charges.
Kyung Seong-dong, the acting leader of South Korea's ruling People Power Party, said today that trying to detain a sitting president is not right.