On Friday, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) filed a detention warrant against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of leading a rebellion for proclaiming martial law on December 3. This comes 45 days after the president declared martial law and 17 days after the court issued its first arrest warrant for him. President Yoon, already disgraced as the first sitting president to be arrested in South Korean constitutional history, now faces a pre-detention suspect interrogation.
The CIO filed the detention warrant against President Yoon on charges of leading a rebellion, abuse of power, and obstruction of exercising a right. Prior to the warrant filing, the CIO notified the president to appear for questioning at 10 a.m. on Friday, but he once again refused to comply. During his initial interrogation as a suspect after he was transported to the CIO on Wednesday, he explained the legitimacy of the martial law but declined to make any further statements. On Thursday, he cited health reasons to avoid further questioning. Concluding that additional investigations would be unproductive, the CIO decided to proceed with filing the detention warrant without further summons.
President Yoon is accused of declaring illegal martial law and mobilizing the military and police to blockade the National Assembly. The president's defense claims the declaration was a "high-level political act" in response to the Democratic Party's excessive impeachment of public officials and budget cuts, asserting it is not subject to judicial review. However, the CIO determined that the circumstances did not meet the constitutional requirements for declaring martial law, such as a state of war, incident, or other equivalent national emergency.
The investigation of the warrant's validity for President Yoon is expected to take place as early as Saturday. Whether the president will appear for the hearing remains uncertain. Legal experts believe that, given the president's previous non-compliance with the arrest warrant execution and interrogations, the likelihood of the detention warrant being granted is high. If the warrant is executed, the CIO plans to conclude its investigation by around Jan. 25 and hand the case over to the special prosecution team led by Park Se-hyun, head of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office.
Dong-Jun Heo hungry@donga.com