South Korea seeks arrest warrant for ex-President Yoon
Published: 05:06 PM,Jun 24,2025 | EDITED : 09:06 PM,Jun 24,2025
South Korea's ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at the Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul. — Reuters file photo
SEOUL: South Korea's special prosecutor asked a court on Tuesday to issue an arrest warrant for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, an investigator said, as a probe intensified over the ousted leader's botched bid to impose martial law.
The new warrant is on a charge of obstruction, a senior member of the special prosecutor's team of investigators said. Yoon had refused to respond to summons for questioning as required under criminal procedures and investigators would 'not get dragged around' by him, Park Ji-young, a deputy to the special prosecutor, told a televised briefing on YTN TV.
Lawyers representing Yoon said in a statement they had not been served a proper summons after the special prosecutor was appointed and that the former president would respond once it was served in a legal manner.
The special prosecutor was appointed just days after liberal President Lee Jae-myung took office on June 4 after winning the snap election called after Yoon's ouster in April and has launched a team of more than 200 prosecutors and investigators to take over ongoing investigations against Yoon. Yoon is fighting the charges against him that include masterminding insurrection, which is punishable by death or life in prison, claiming he had declared martial law on December 3 to sound the alarm over the threat to democracy posed by the then-opposition Democratic Party. — Reuters
The new warrant is on a charge of obstruction, a senior member of the special prosecutor's team of investigators said. Yoon had refused to respond to summons for questioning as required under criminal procedures and investigators would 'not get dragged around' by him, Park Ji-young, a deputy to the special prosecutor, told a televised briefing on YTN TV.
Lawyers representing Yoon said in a statement they had not been served a proper summons after the special prosecutor was appointed and that the former president would respond once it was served in a legal manner.
The special prosecutor was appointed just days after liberal President Lee Jae-myung took office on June 4 after winning the snap election called after Yoon's ouster in April and has launched a team of more than 200 prosecutors and investigators to take over ongoing investigations against Yoon. Yoon is fighting the charges against him that include masterminding insurrection, which is punishable by death or life in prison, claiming he had declared martial law on December 3 to sound the alarm over the threat to democracy posed by the then-opposition Democratic Party. — Reuters