President Yoon's Detention Order Extended, South Korean KPK Chief Promises Successful Execution

JAKARTA - Head of South Korea's anti-corruption agency, the Corruption Investigation Office for High Officials (CIO) promised to successfully execute impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol after an extended detention warrant and last week's execution attempt failed.

The Seoul Western District Court provided an extension requested by investigators led by CIO, after the initial warrant ended on Monday, officials said.

Head of CIO Oh Dong-woon apologized for failing to implement the warrant last Friday, during a session of the legislation committee and the National Assembly's judiciary, pledging to succeed in a second attempt.

CIO failed to execute Yoon's detention warrant on Friday, after being in tension with presidential security forces for more than five hours.

Responding to CIO's criticism that he was not sufficiently prepared to carry out the warrant, Oh said there were "many unexpected problems" and he took "full responsibility."

CIO will "prepare comprehensively" the implementation of the second warrant with the understanding that it could be "the last opportunity," Oh said.

Furthermore, he criticized Yoon and his office, saying blocking the implementation of the warrant was tantamount to "breaking the legal basis and order," an act that, he said, should be strongly criticized.

He also firmly denied CIO's claim that he did not have the authority to investigate the charges of rebellion, by showing the court's approval of the arrest warrant proved otherwise.

"No legal issues," Oh said, adding CIO's investigative rights "have been justified many times by the issuance of a valid warrant by the court."

CIO requested an initial warrant on December 30, accusing Yoon of insurgency and abuse of power, in connection with the military emergency announcement on December 3.

The next day, the same court gave the warrant, marking the first time in the history of a detention warrant issued to a president in office.

With this extension, CIO is expected to immediately try again to execute a warrant against President Yoon.

Although investigators did not disclose the duration of the extension of the detention warrant. It is believed that the latest warrant is valid for more than seven days, the validity period of the usual detention warrant, given the challenges anticipated in detaining Yoon.