South Korea investigators seek to arrest former president Yoon again

SEOUL, July 6 — South Korean prosecutors requested a new arrest warrant today to detain former president Yoon Suk Yeol, after questioning him twice, including a session that lasted over nine hours.

Yoon was formally stripped of office in April, after being impeached and suspended by lawmakers over his December 3 attempt to subvert civilian rule, which saw armed soldiers deployed to parliament.

He has appeared in court on insurrection charges, and has been questioned by a special counsel investigating the martial law declaration.

“Today, the special counsel filed a request for a detention warrant with the Seoul Central District Court for former president Yoon Suk Yeol on charges including abuse of power and obstruction of special official duties,” Prosecutor Park Ji-young, a member of the counsel, told reporters.

Park said that Yoon had also been charged with “falsification of official documents” over his martial law declaration.

“The warrant outlines why a detention is deemed necessary, but I cannot elaborate,” said Park, adding the details will be discussed in court.

The special counsel questioned Yoon yesterday over his resistance during a failed arrest attempt in January, as well as allegations that he authorised drones to fly to Pyongyang as a justification for declaring martial law.

Yoon’s legal team slammed the warrant as “excessive and unwarranted”.

“We have thoroughly refuted the allegations and demonstrated that, as a matter of law, no crime can be established,” his legal team said in a statement.

“The special counsel failed to present any objective evidence during the investigation, and even based on witness testimony, the charges do not hold,” they added.

Last week, the court dismissed an arrest warrant requested by the special counsel after Yoon initially refused to appear for questioning, citing that he had since expressed a willingness to comply with future summons. — AFP