A joint investigation team demanded on Monday that an arrest warrant be issued against President Yoon Suk Yeol for imposing martial law. This makes Yoon the first president in South Korean history to face arrest.

The team announced that they requested an arrest warrant on charges of insurrection and abuse of office after Yoon failed to appear despite being summoned three times for questioning.

According to the team, consisting of the Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO), police, and the defense ministry’s investigation unit, the request was submitted to the Seoul Western District Court at midnight on Sunday.

Investigators allege that Yoon led an uprising and abused his powers by declaring martial law on 3 December and ordering troops to the National Assembly to prevent lawmakers from voting on the decree.

Yoon denied the accusations, stating that the declaration of martial law was a “management action” to warn the opposition party against its abuse of legislative power.

Later in the day, Yoon’s legal defense team submitted an opinion to the court, arguing that the request for an arrest warrant should be rejected because the CIO is not authorized to investigate the sedition charges.

Yun Gap-geun, one of Yoon’s legal representatives, stated that it was legally incorrect to argue that because the CIO can investigate misconduct charges, it can also investigate sedition charges.

Yun, together with lawyer Kim Hong-il, submitted a notice of appointment of a lawyer to the court.

Chinese companies are scrambling to secure advanced chip and electronics materials from U.S. suppliers before the new year amid concerns that Washington will impose further export restrictions on the sector, sources familiar with the matter told Nikkei Asia.

Orders to suppliers such as DuPont, Entegris, and Chemours have increased since November and include a wide range of key consumables such as chemical-mechanical polishing pads, filters, specialized containers, advanced lubricants, and high-quality bulbs for inspection and testing, sources said.

They added that the Chinese technology industry is concerned that the U.S. may impose additional restrictions on the use of advanced chip-making materials and designs, in addition to the restrictions already announced.

“China has been increasing its efforts to find local solutions over the past few years, but the quality of chipmaking materials and consumables from some U.S. suppliers is still much better and more stable than local options,” said a chip distributor familiar with the stocking efforts.

DuPont offers high-quality pads commonly used in chemical-mechanical polishing processes, a critical step in chip production. Entegris is a world leader in the supply of filters and FOUPs, specialized plastic carriers used to transport wafers, while Chemours offers critical lubricants used in various types of machinery across a wide range of industries, including aerospace.

In addition to snapping up inputs from American suppliers, Chinese chipmakers and equipment providers are also rushing to find alternative sources for high-end consumables, which are largely controlled by U.S., European, and Japanese suppliers, Nikkei Asia understands. These efforts include trying to replace numerous foreign suppliers of chemicals and materials with domestic suppliers.

“Customers have told me they are concerned that the supply of some key consumables may be at risk of being disrupted, and have asked us to start finding and verifying second sources soon,” said an executive of a chip manufacturing equipment vendor.

The move is in line with China’s campaign to reduce its dependence on American suppliers as the Washington-Beijing technology race heats up. Huawei, which has labored under pressure from the United States for five years, has been a driving force in boosting China’s technology confidence.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration announced sweeping new export restrictions this month, adding 140 Chinese organizations, including the country’s largest chip equipment makers, to a trade blacklist. Suppliers have until 2 January or 31 January, depending on the specific restrictions, to complete business deals with blacklisted customers, after which they will need to obtain a license to continue doing business with them.

The U.S. this month also released a supply chain review of mature chip manufacturing in China, stating that only 17% of American companies were able to verify that their products do not contain Chinese chips. The U.S. government announced that it will prohibit government agencies from procuring products containing Chinese chips or services from December 2027.

The Biden administration this week also launched Section 301 investigations into China’s trade practices related to mature or less advanced semiconductors. However, no conclusion will be reached before Biden leaves office next month, and it is unclear whether Donald Trump’s new administration will continue the investigations.

Entegris and Chemours declined to comment. DuPont did not respond to Nikkei Asia’s request for comment.

Striking allegations continue to emerge about the 13th president of South Korea, Yoon Seok Yeol, who was dismissed today after the ‘political coup’.

Even after the lifting of martial law, the ‘black spy’ plot has been unraveled by Lee Kwang-hee, deputy leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Citing a ‘black spy’ and an informant he contacted on the 24th, Lee revealed that the assassination squad, known as the Cheongju Team, was awaiting instructions on plans to blow up strategic military bases in South Korea.

According to Lee, the Cheongju Team’s mission was not to ‘kill’ but to ‘blow up facilities’.

While the target of the operation was Cheongju airport, where F35A fighter jets are based, it is also rumored that in addition to the Cheongju team, a separate team targeted the THAAD base in Seongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and the Daegu military airport.

According to Lee, the ‘black spies’ in the teams were given enough C4 plastic explosives and 5 magazines of ammunition each to destroy a hangar.

However, as the ‘black spies’ did not receive additional instructions for several days and the waiting period was long, it was debated whether the situation involved another plan.

Deputy Defence Minister Kim Seon-ho, who made a statement about the personnel in question, confirmed the existence of ‘black spies’ but did not provide any information about their duties. He announced that the personnel in question had returned to their bases.

However, Rep. Lee Kwang-hee gave additional information that ‘the day after Deputy Minister Kim’s statement, the black spies received the order to return at around 4 a.m.’.

Lee said that the ‘Cheongju team’ he had identified was different from the so-called ‘Pangyo team’ which was on standby at its base in Pangyo on the day of martial law, and that ‘the Cheongju team mentioned the Constitutional Court’ in this regard. He stressed that preparations were being made for the time of the operation, i.e. after the failure of martial law.

Rep. Park Seon-won of the Democratic Party also warned that ‘there may be more unverified black spies’, adding: ‘They can surrender by leaving their weapons at the designated place and another team can carry out the operation.’

Representative Park gave the following details about his contact: Black spies are a valuable core asset of our military. The black spy who called me was crying a lot. He thanked me a lot and said they would come back. He said they had no intention of betraying the people or the country. I appeal to them never to recklessly follow unjust orders.

Who are black spies?

The ‘black spies’, who were placed under the South Korean Armed Forces Intelligence Command during the martial law state of emergency, are known as military intelligence spies who operate by concealing their identities. After Yoon’s coup attempt, the conditions for disbanding this unit were created.

What were they planning?

According to the plan, ‘black spies’ selected from special forces would;

1) bomb Chung airfield, where the F-35s are located;

2) launch an attack on the THAAD base in Seongju.

3) Disguised as terrorists, they will infiltrate and attack the 11th Fleet’s Daegu military airport.

In this case, it was planned that the ‘black spies’ would give the impression of being North Korean spies, the North Korean government would be blamed in public opinion and a state of war would be declared. This would delay Yoon’s impeachment and trigger a war in which American generals would take command of the South Korean army under the OPCON law.