South Korean authorities have granted a request to extend a warrant to detain the country’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning over his surprise declaration of martial law last month.
The warrant expired on Monday at midnight (10 a.m. ET) but was reissued on Tuesday afternoon local time by Seoul Western District Court at the request of the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO).
The deadline for the warrant has not been disclosed. They are usually valid for seven days but can be granted for longer if the judge deems it necessary.
The CIO, which is working with police and the defense ministry to investigate Yoon, has also requested police execute the warrant for Yoon’s detention. Police have a larger force and more equipment to carry out his arrest than the anti-corruption agency.
Yoon, who was stripped of his presidential powers last month after his short-lived martial law order roiled the country, is wanted for questioning in multiple investigations, including over accusations of leading an insurrection – a crime punishable by life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
The approval of the initial warrant, first issued on December 31, was the first time such action has been taken against a sitting president.
Investigators attempted to take Yoon into custody on Friday but were forced to back off after an hours-long showdown at the presidential compound.
On Monday, protesters both in support of and against Yoon gathered near the presidential compound amid heavy police presence. Yoon’s supporters have vowed to try and block further attempts to arrest him.
Yoon, a former prosecutor, has so far refused to answer summonses by investigators asking for his cooperation, according to the CIO.
Once the warrant has been enforced, it starts a 48-hour countdown for investigators to hold and question Yoon. The CIO would need to apply for another warrant within that period to detain him for longer.
Yoon’s declaration of martial law in December was met with widespread public backlash, with members of his own party turning on him to support the impeachment vote following his refusal to resign.
But the suspended president’s backers have insisted that the actions being taken against him are contrary to South Korean law and Yoon has remained defiant in the face of the investigations and an impeachment trial underway by one of the country’s highest courts.
Hundreds of supporters also gathered outside Yoon’s residence on Friday in protest of the actions, with his lawyer reiterating in a statement that day that the court order was “an illegal, invalid warrant,” and vowed to take legal action against its execution.
Yoon’s defense team also filed an injunction against the warrant with the Constitutional Court, as well as a separate objection filed to a lower court over the order.
