- The former star prosecutor has refused to be questioned three times about the martial law proposal.
- Investigators decline to reveal the length of the new arrest warrant they were seeking.
- Authorities are investigating defendant Yoon on charges of “insurrection.”
SEOUL: South Korea's anti-corruption investigators on Tuesday were awaiting a new court-ordered arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose failed attempt to implement martial law plunged the country into turmoil.
The former star prosecutor has refused to be questioned three times over a failed martial law decree last month and is holed up in his residence surrounded by hundreds of guards preventing his arrest.
The same court that issued the first order, which expired after seven days, is likely to grant a new order, but investigators declined to reveal the length of the new order they sought.
“The Joint Investigation Headquarters today resubmitted an order to the Seoul Western District Court to extend the arrest warrant against defendant Yoon,” the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) said in a statement late on Tuesday. Monday.
“Details regarding the validity period cannot be disclosed.”
Neither investigators nor the Seoul court commented on the approval of the new order on Tuesday morning.
However, CIO deputy director Lee Jae-seung told reporters Tuesday before the refiling that the likelihood of the court not granting an extension was “very low.”
Yoon is being investigated on charges of “insurrection” and, if arrested and formally convicted, faces prison or, in the worst case, the death penalty. His failed martial law decree plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.
He would also become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested.
Her lawyers repeatedly said the initial order was “illegal” and “illegal”, and vowed to take further legal action against her.
Protest break
South Korea's Constitutional Court has set January 14 for the start of Yoon's impeachment trial, which will be held in his absence if he does not attend.
The court has up to 180 days to determine whether to remove Yoon as president or restore his powers.
Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared at their impeachment trials in 2004 and 2016, respectively.
Investigators had difficulty arresting Yoon due to a sizable force of guards massed at his home to protect him.
A tense six-hour standoff at his residence, when hundreds of members of his presidential security service refused to budge, forced investigators to do a U-turn.
Dozens of lawmakers from Yoon's People Power Party showed up outside his presidential residence and police blocked roads on Monday morning.
Many of his followers have also camped in front of his residence despite the freezing weather.
However, without an active warrant on Tuesday, the scene was calmer on the streets, and protests appeared to subside ahead of any new attempts to arrest Yoon.
