A South Korean court has issued an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, marking the first time a sitting president in the country’s history has faced such charges. The joint investigation team had sought the warrant on insurrection and abuse of power charges after Yoon ignored three summonses to appear for questioning.
Under South Korea’s constitution, if a sitting president is accused of insurrection, police have the authority to arrest him while in office. The court granted the warrant despite President Yoon’s attorneys claiming that the headquarters did not have the authority to investigate an insurrection and that declaring martial law was constitutional.
Yoon declared martial law on December 3, citing opposition from the Democratic Party as a reason for his actions. However, the move sparked protests and was later met with opposition from all 190 members of the National Assembly, who voted to demand its lifting. Despite this, Yoon initially refused to lift the decree before eventually withdrawing troops deployed under martial law.
The court’s decision comes after President Yoon’s suspension from office on December 14, following a 204-85 vote in favor of impeachment proceedings. The opposition party had called for his resignation due to the “fundamentally invalid” declaration of martial law.
Source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/south-korean-investigators-seek-arrest-president-yoon-martial/story?id=117189931