Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, centerm arrives at a court docket to attend a listening to to evaluation his arrest warrant requested by particular prosecutors in Seoul, South Korea Wednesday, July 9, 2025.
Kim Hong-Ji/AP/Pool Reuters
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Kim Hong-Ji/AP/Pool Reuters
SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean court docket early Thursday authorised the brand new arrest of former President Yoon Suk Yeol on expenses associated to his temporary imposition of martial legislation in December, accepting a particular prosecutor’s declare that he poses a threat of destroying proof.
The arrest warrant issued by the Seoul Central District Court docket despatched Yoon again to a detention middle close to the capital, 4 months after his launch in March, when the identical court docket overturned his January arrest and allowed him to face trial for riot with out being held in custody.
His felony case is being dealt with by a workforce of investigators underneath particular prosecutor Cho Eun-suk who’re pursuing extra expenses over Yoon’s authoritarian push, together with obstructing official duties, abuse of energy and falsifying official paperwork.
Cho’s workforce questioned him twice earlier than submitting a request for his arrest warrant to the court docket on Sunday.
Yoon’s legal professionals had described the arrest request as extreme and unsubstantiated. They did not instantly react to the court docket’s resolution to approve the arrest of Yoon, who was formally faraway from workplace in April after the Constitutional Court docket upheld his impeachment.
Yoon did not reply to questions by reporters after arriving on the court docket on Wednesday afternoon for a listening to to evaluation the particular prosecutor’s request. After the listening to lasting about seven hours, Yoon was taken to the detention middle to await the court docket’s resolution.
Yoon’s new arrest might mark the start of an prolonged interval in custody, probably lasting months or longer. Yoon will be initially detained on the middle for as much as 20 days, whereas the particular prosecutor will intention to indict him on extra expenses.
A protester wears a masks of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol throughout a rally in help of a listening to to evaluation a particular prosecutor’s request for his arrest, close to the Seoul Central District Court docket in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. The writing reads “Yoon Suk Yeol sentenced to demise.”
Ahn Younger-joon/AP
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Ahn Younger-joon/AP
If Yoon is indicted on new expenses, that would maintain him underneath arrest for as much as six months till an preliminary court docket ruling. If that court docket convicts him and points a jail time period, Yoon would serve that sentence because the case presumably strikes as much as increased courts.
Park Ji-young, a senior investigator on Cho’s workforce, mentioned they plan to query Yoon once more Friday. Yoon was absent from a Thursday listening to on the Seoul court docket over his earlier indictment on riot expenses, and his legal professionals provided no quick rationalization for his absence.
The previous conservative chief described his martial legislation imposition on Dec. 3 as a essential step to quash his “anti-state” liberal opponents, accusing them of utilizing their legislative majority to impede his agenda. However Yoon’s decree lasted solely hours, after a quorum of lawmakers broke via a blockade of closely armed troopers on the Nationwide Meeting and voted to elevate the measure.
Yoon was impeached by lawmakers Dec. 14 and indicted Jan. 26 by public prosecutors who accused him of masterminding an tried riot, describing his energy seize as an unlawful try and seize the legislature and election workplaces and detain political opponents.
The fees are punishable by the demise penalty or life imprisonment.
Yoon additionally faces accusations of implementing martial legislation with out following required authorized process, similar to deliberation by a proper Cupboard assembly, and of unlawfully deploying the presidential safety forces like a personal military to dam an preliminary try by legislation enforcement to detain him at his residence in early January.
His liberal rival and present President Lee Jae Myung, who gained the June snap election to switch him, final month authorised laws to launch sweeping particular investigations into Yoon’s martial legislation debacle and different felony allegations involving his spouse and administration.
