South Korea: deposed President Yoon threatened with arrest

The noose is tightening on the deposed South Korean president: investigators asked the courts on Monday to issue an arrest warrant targeting Yoon Suk Yeol for his failed attempt to impose martial law, an unprecedented measure in the country in the grip of a serious political crisis.

The day after a third refusal by Mr. Yoon to appear for questioning, the investigation services filed their request with a court in Seoul, they said in a press release.

Never since the end of the military dictatorship in 1987 have South Korean security forces attempted to arrest a sitting head of state.

In a letter submitted to the court requested by investigators, Yoon Suk Yeol’s lawyers denounced this request.

The arrest warrant is unjustified because it was requested by an unauthorized agency and does not comply with the necessary conditions provided by the Code of Criminal ProcedureYoon Kab-keun, counsel for the former star prosecutor, told journalists, estimating that a current president cannot be prosecuted for abuse of power.

Dismissed by Parliament on December 14, Mr. Yoon remains formally in office even if he is currently suspended while waiting for the Constitutional Court to validate or not the decision of the deputies, and is prohibited from leaving the country.

He is also the subject of an investigation for rebelliona crime punishable by death, for having imposed martial law on December 3 and sending the army to Parliament to try to muzzle it, before backing down a few hours later under pressure from deputies and the street .

According to South Korean media, Mr. Yoon, 64, also refuses to acknowledge receipt of the summons sent to him by the Constitutional Court, which held a first hearing on his case on Friday.

The Court has six months to confirm or overturn the president’s impeachment. If she opts for the first solution, a presidential election will have to take place within two months.

While waiting for her to make a decision, the deputies dismissed on Friday the interim president in place since mid-December, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, whom they accuse of having tried to obstruct the investigation.

The new interim head of state, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, has promised to put an end to the government crisisunprecedented for Asia’s fourth largest economy.

Barely in office, the country’s third leader in less than a month faced the country’s deadliest air disaster with the crash of a Jeju Air Boeing as it landed at Muan airport. (southwest), which left 179 dead.

Protests in Seoul

On Saturday, tens of thousands of people marched in Seoul in two separate pro- and anti-Yoon demonstrations.

His detractors and the opposition, the majority in Parliament, are calling for his immediate arrest, encouraged by revelations about the coup by the president, himself a former prosecutor.

The indictment report for former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, believed to be the person who pushed the president to impose martial law, claims that Mr. Yoon authorized the army to open fire to enter the Parliament.

Haven’t you entered yet? What are you doing? Break the door and take them out, even if it means shootinghe said on Dec. 3 in a phone call with Seoul’s military commander, Lee Jin-woo, who was near Parliament, according to prosecutors.

After martial law was declared, heavily armed soldiers stormed Parliament, scaling barriers, smashing windows and, some, landing by helicopter.

According to the 10-page report, the president also ordered military counterintelligence chief Gen. Kwak Jong-keun toquickly get inside of Parliament, by destroying the doors with an ax if necessary.

The document adds that Mr. Yoon is said to have discussed martial law as early as March with senior military officials.