Investigators said a South Korean court approved a motion to remove Yoon Seok-yeol, the country's ousted president who faces impeachment earlier this month over mismanagement decisions he made in defiance of the law.Yin's decision to announce the law on the evening of Dec. 3 plunged Asia's fourth-largest economy into its worst political crisis in years and caused concern in Washington.Yoon was forced to withdraw the decision just six hours later after lawmakers challenged the government to vote on the decision.
The National Crime Bureau confirmed that a court in Seoul had approved the indictment, but it was not clear whether police would execute him."An arrest and search warrant was issued for Chairman Yoon Seok-yeol this morning," the Unification Ministry said in a statement.Yin Jiagan's lawyer Yin Jiagan condemned the move. "Arrest, search and seizure warrants issued at the request of the agency without investigative authority are illegal and unlawful," the statement said.Shortly after, investigators said they raided the military's counterintelligence office as part of a broadening law enforcement investigation.
"The National Crime Agency's Emergency Investigation Team is conducting a search and seizure operation at the Counterintelligence Command this afternoon," detectives said in a statement.Yin has so far refused to cooperate with the investigation into his political leadership. He has failed to report allegations of abuse of power and a planned attack on investigators, and the presidential security service has obstructed the investigation in his office and home.Yoon is also charged with sedition, one of the few charges that the South Korean president cannot avoid, carrying a sentence of life in prison or the death penalty. "The government made the statement out of concern that people may refuse to comply with the subpoena without any consequences and without risking committing a crime," the official said. The arrest warrant is valid until January 6, he said, adding that Yoon could be detained at a police station or the Seoul Detention Center.
Media reports said it was unlikely the president would be arrested immediately or his residence searched, as investigators would seek to cooperate with the president's security service. Technically, anyone interfering with the enforcement of the license could be arrested.This is the first time South Korea has issued a report to a sitting president, local media reported. Police were deployed outside Yoon's home in downtown Seoul early Tuesday to prevent unrest. Supporters and opponents of Yin, who are calling for his removal, have been holding vigils around his home, while local media have shown footage of the nightly clashes between the two camps.
"Unless Yoon voluntarily allows them to arrest him, there is no way to arrest him," said Choi Kim, director of the Presidential Administration Association in Seoul. "Will detectives join the fight with the security services?"Choi said investigators could also visit Yin’s home to see if they did their job diligently and honestly. Park Sung-min, chairman of Seoul-based political consultancy firm MIN Consulting, said the efforts to indict Yoon were an attempt to get him to cooperate with the investigation.
Kwon Sung-dong, the interim chairman of South Korea’s People’s Power Committee, said on Tuesday that it would be inappropriate to try to arrest a sitting president, Yonhap News Agency reported.On December 14, President Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended after the National Assembly voted to impeach him for drafting a law.
The Constitutional Court has 180 days from that date to decide whether to accept the indictment or reinstate Yoon Eun-hye, whose two-and-a-half-year term was violated. Martial law has led to weeks of political and economic turmoil. Yoon’s successor, Han Deok-soo, was also indicted last week for failing to sign a bill that would have helped investigate his predecessor.
South Korean President Choi Sang-mok was seriously injured in a plane crash at Muan International Airport, the worst land disaster in South Korea, just two days after taking office.In his New Year’s speech on Tuesday, Choi called for national harmony, unity and confidence in the government. “The Republic of Korea is in an unprecedented and serious situation,” Choi said, referring to changes in the global economy, politics and security, as well as confusion at home. He added that "the government will do its best to improve the country's governance in many areas, such as national See More
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