South Korean authorities have asked a court to authorize a warrant for the arrest of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol on insurrection and abuse of power allegations following his abortive effort to impose martial law. File Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI |
License PhotoDec. 30 (UPI) — South Korean authorities said Monday they had asked a court to authorize a warrant for the arrest of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol on insurrection and abuse of power allegations following his abortive effort to impose martial law.
A joint investigation team made up of members from the police anticorruption office and defense ministry wants to detain Yoon after he ignored three previous subpoenas to submit himself for questioning in connection with declaring martial law on Dec. 3.
Yoon denies all the allegations, rejecting the charge of insurrection by claiming it was opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly he accused of “anti-state activities” and colluding with North Korea who were guilty of abuse of power and that he only declared martial law as a warning.
Officially, Yoon remains in office after being impeached by lawmakers in the second attempt on Dec. 14 pending a decision by the Constitutional Court on whether to confirm the impeachment within 180 days, meaning his arrest would mark the first of a sitting president.
However, given the office of the president confers immunity from prosecution for all criminal offenses bar insurrection and treason, investigators seeking his arrest will have to satisfy judges that the rebellion charge is substantiated and whether there was just cause for his snubbing of the Corruption Investigation Office’s summonses.
After a motion to impeach passed in a 204-85 vote, Yoon was replaced by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as acting president. Han was removed from office on Friday to be replaced by his deputy and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok.
Amid a deepening political crisis, Han was brought down by impeachment proceedings over his refusal to appoint lawmakers’ picks for three spots on the Constitutional Court currently weighing up Yoon’s fate.
Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law brought an estimated 200,000 protestors onto the streets of Seoul around the National Assembly, where lawmakers reversed his declaration around six hours later in a unanimous vote in the early hours of Dec. 4.
In 2017, President Park Geun-hye was impeached and removed from power by the Constitutional Court and President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached in 2004, but his removal was not approved by the court.
Former presidents Roh Tae-woo, Chun Doo-hwan, Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak were all arrested — but only after they had left office.
South Korea is a young democracy only holding its first free presidential election in 1987 after decades of military rule during which pro-democracy protests were suppressed with brutal and, sometimes, deadly force.
