South Korea: Yoon to Appear in Court for Arrest Warrant Hearing

Seoul, Jan 18 (NationPress) The legal team representing impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol announced on Saturday that Yoon has opted to attend a court session regarding an arrest warrant against him, aiming to clarify the validity of his brief martial law decree.

Yun Gap-keun, one of Yoon's attorneys, communicated this decision via a text message to media representatives.

The attorney highlighted that Yoon's choice to participate in the hearing is not only to elucidate the legitimacy of the martial law declaration but also to rehabilitate his damaged reputation following the failed martial law implementation on December 3.

Set for 2 p.m., the hearing is anticipated to see Yoon refute the insurrection allegations leveled against him by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).

The vehicle transporting Yoon departed a detention facility around 1:30 p.m. and is expected to navigate through a designated press photo area before entering the courthouse.

On Friday, the anti-corruption agency filed a request for a formal arrest warrant for Yoon with the Seoul Western District Court, just two days after CIO investigators detained him at his home and took him into custody following interrogation.

The CIO is currently conducting a joint investigation with law enforcement and military officials to determine whether Yoon's martial law declaration constituted an attempted insurrection.

However, Yoon's legal representatives contend that the CIO lacks the jurisdiction to investigate insurrection claims.

If the court grants the warrant, Yoon will mark a historic moment as the first sitting President in South Korea's constitutional history to face formal arrest.

Should the warrant be denied, the beleaguered President will return to the presidential residence, bolstering his assertions that the ongoing probes into his martial law decree and impeachment are baseless.

Yoon shocked the nation by enacting martial law on December 3, leading South Korea into a significant political crisis. However, the martial law was revoked mere hours later when lawmakers voted to annul it.

Yoon's legal team asserts that the martial law decree was a governance measure and should not be subjected to judicial scrutiny, as it was enacted to navigate a national emergency created by the Opposition-led impeachments of Cabinet members, legislative deadlock, and unilateral budget cuts.

His presidential authority was suspended after the Opposition-majority Assembly voted to impeach him on December 14.

Investigators pursued an arrest warrant for Yoon on Friday, two days post his apprehension at home, leading to his transfer to a detention facility after questioning.

Since his detention, Yoon has declined to participate in questioning regarding his martial law initiative.

On Wednesday, Yoon's legal team petitioned the Seoul Central District Court to rule on the legality of the detention warrant issued by the Western District Court.

However, the central court rejected the challenge the following day, maintaining his custody.

Despite this ruling, Yoon's legal representatives are expected to persist with their argument that the CIO lacks the legal standing to probe insurrection allegations and that the western court does not possess appropriate jurisdiction over the martial law case, as reported by the Yonhap news agency.

Concerning evidence tampering and flight risk apprehensions, the legal team is expected to argue that much of the necessary evidence has already been secured and that there is no flight risk since Yoon serves as the sitting President.