South Korean investigators are preparing for a second attempt to arrest Yoon Suk Yeol. A court in South Korea has extended an arrest warrant against the ousted president, investigators announced on Tuesday, paving the way for a renewed effort to detain him after his security service thwarted the first attempt last week.
The Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO) and the National Police Agency, which are jointly investigating sedition charges against Yoon, will determine when to reissue the arrest warrant. Yoon’s legal team contends that the warrant is illegal and is expected to continue resisting arrest.
Prosecutors must prove that Yoon’s declaration of martial law and deployment of troops to the National Assembly in December constituted sedition. Under South Korea’s penal code, sedition is defined as “resorting to violence for the purpose of usurping national territory or overthrowing the constitution.”
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun has also been charged with sedition. According to the Yonhap News Agency, prosecutors concluded that the mobilization of the army and police to block the National Assembly, along with attempts to arrest lawmakers and seize documents from the National Election Commission without a warrant, were aimed at subverting the constitution. Testimony suggests that these orders were issued directly by Yoon.
In a speech last month, Yoon claimed that he declared martial law as a warning against “anti-state forces” within the opposition Democratic Party, arguing that the move fell within the scope of “state powers.”
The CIO, established to investigate offenses by senior officials, does not typically handle treason cases. It also lacks experience dealing with suspects who physically resist arrest. On Monday, the office requested the police to execute an arrest warrant for Yoon, but the National Police Agency cited legal issues with the request.
The police are preparing for a potential confrontation with the president’s security service and have indicated that they may arrest any personnel who attempt to physically obstruct the execution of the arrest warrant. The head of the security service was summoned for questioning for the third time on Tuesday after ignoring two previous summonses.
The issue has also become a focal point in the impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court, which is tasked with making the final decision following the National Assembly’s successful impeachment motion last month.
The impeachment motion centered on two points: the alleged unconstitutionality of Yoon’s declaration of martial law and accusations that it constituted sedition.
On Friday, the National Assembly’s impeachment investigation committee, composed solely of opposition lawmakers, asked the court to remove the sedition charge from the impeachment grounds to expedite the trial. The committee argued that the sedition issue should be resolved in criminal court.
Yoon’s People Power Party, which largely opposed the impeachment motion, argued that the retroactive amendment should invalidate the motion.
A legal representative from the impeachment committee stated, “There is no change in making all acts of sedition subject to prosecution.”
