Refusing To Be Interrogated, Investigators Ask For An Order To Arrest South Korean President Who Was Impeached By Yoon

South Korean Paspampres while guarding the President who was impeached by Yoon Suk-yeol. (Instagram/@presidential_security_service)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Investigation Office for High Officials (CIO) asked the Seoul court to issue an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday regarding his decision to impose a military emergency last December.

This happened hours after the impeachment leader refused to be further interrogated by CIO.

Yoon has refused to cooperate with the investigation after undergoing more than 10 hours of interrogation on Wednesday, making him the country's first active president to be detained.

CIO called on Seoul's Western District Court to approve an arrest warrant for Yoon on charges of leading a rebellion, a life sentence or imprisonment, reported The Korea Times January 17.

The court is the same court that previously issued a warrant to detain Yoon at the request of the corruption investigation agency.

If approved, investigators will be given 20 more days to detain him, where they will formalize the charges against him.

CIO, who is leading a joint investigation with the police and the defense ministry, has accused Yoon of at least two serious criminal acts of rebellion and abuse of power by certifying and imposing military emergency orders.

Yoon's lawyers argue that CIO does not have the legal authority to investigate the charges of rebellion. They cited a law that explicitly appointed the police as the only authority to address the matter. On this basis, they claimed that Yoon's detention warrant was requested by CIO flawed from the start.

However, CIO maintains its investigative jurisdiction, stating the uprising could constitute a "related crime" to abuse of power, a charge that is clearly under its authority.

Judge So Joon-sub at the Seoul Central District Court decided to support CIO, saying there were no violations of the law during the institution's legal proceedings to obtain a presidential detention warrant.

During interrogation of CIO, Yoon remained largely silent, according to investigators. However, prosecutors have reportedly secured more than 1,400 pages of investigative documents, in which Yoon is suspected to be the accomplice to the insurgency, including Army Chief of Staff General Park An-su and Defense Contraints Command Chief Yeo In-hyung, saying what the commander-in-chief allegedly ordered for them was to implement a military emergency.

What is written in the document and Yoon's refusal to cooperate in the investigation attempt are likely to be a factor in the court's decision on whether the president should be officially arrested.

It is known, Article 70 of the Criminal Procedures Act states that an arrest warrant can be issued to the suspect if the person "does not have a permanent residence" or if there is a reasonable reason to suspect, the person "can lose evidence" or "alert."

However, other factors, such as their status as president in office, could also affect the decision.

Since only prosecutors can indict the president in office, CIO plans to spend another 10 days supporting its case before handing it over to prosecutors, as agreed by the two previous institutions.