On Sunday, South Korean prosecutors submitted a fresh request for an arrest warrant to detain former president Yoon Suk Yeol, following two rounds of questioning, one of which extended for more than nine hours.
Yoon was officially removed from office in April after lawmakers impeached and suspended him for attempting to undermine civilian authority on December 3, when he ordered armed soldiers into the national parliament.
He is currently facing insurrection charges and has been interrogated by a special prosecutor examining his controversial declaration of martial law.
“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.
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“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 council questioned Yoon on Saturday 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”.
Yoon Suk Yeol’s legal team stated that they had completely rebutted the accusations against him, arguing that there was no legal basis for any criminal charge to stand. They maintained that the special counsel’s investigation had failed to uncover any concrete evidence, and insisted that even testimonies from witnesses did not substantiate the allegations.
The court had previously rejected an earlier request for Yoon’s arrest after he initially declined to appear for questioning, noting at the time that he had since indicated his willingness to respond to future summons.