South Korean anticorruption investigators have announced they will seek a court warrant to extend the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol, after the embattled leader refused to cooperate with questioning regarding his short-lived declaration of martial law, Al Jazeera reports.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) stated on Friday that it would request an extension of Yoon’s detention by up to 20 days. This development follows Yoon’s unprecedented arrest on Wednesday, when he became the first sitting South Korean president to be taken into custody after a dawn raid on his Seoul residence.
The initial warrant allowed investigators to hold Yoon for a maximum of 48 hours. On Thursday, the Seoul Central District Court rejected a motion from Yoon’s legal team challenging the legality of his arrest. This legal challenge came after a weeks-long standoff between investigators and presidential security forces at his residence.
Yoon, who has been suspended from office since his impeachment on December 14, faces a serious investigation related to offenses including insurrection, a charge that carries a potential sentence of life imprisonment or the death penalty. Though South Korea has a moratorium on executions, the severity of the charge underscores the seriousness of the allegations against the former president.
Yoon’s future as president is also under review by the Constitutional Court, which has 180 days to decide whether to uphold the National Assembly’s decision to impeach him. Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok is currently serving as acting president following the impeachment of Yoon’s initial successor, Han Duck-soo, who was also impeached for failing to fill three vacancies on the Constitutional Court.
Yoon’s legal team has denounced his arrest as illegal, stating that the president sees no reason to answer investigators’ questions.
Despite the mounting legal pressures on Yoon, his conservative People Power Party (PPP) has surprisingly seen an increase in popularity amid divisions over the handling of his arrest. A recent Gallup Korea poll revealed that the PPP has overtaken the main opposition Democratic Party for the first time since August, with 39 percent approval compared to the Democratic Party’s 36 percent. This development highlights the deep political rifts in the country.
