(Bloomberg) — South Korean investigators have asked police to execute a warrant to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol after their initial attempt last week ended in failure following an hours-long standoff with his security team.
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The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials said Monday that it asked the police to execute the warrant on their behalf as the court-issued warrant is set to expire by the end of the day. It was not immediately clear if police can execute the warrant issued for the CIO. Police did not immediately have a comment.
A team from the CIO tried to arrest the embattled leader Friday as part of an insurrection probe into his brief imposition of martial law. But the officials abandoned their bid hours later as Yoon’s security officials blocked their attempt with thousands of Yoon’s supporters gathered outside the president’s residence.
It was not immediately clear if and when a second attempt to arrest the sitting president would take place as law enforcement authorities mull how to execute the warrant. The investigators would need to seek another warrant if they want to act on it beyond Monday. The arrest of a sitting president would be the first in the nation’s history if it materializes.
South Korea has been in a political crisis since Yoon’s martial law declaration at the beginning of December. While the order was retracted after lawmakers raced to parliament to overturn the measure, the move rattled financial markets, hurt the local currency and disrupted diplomatic efforts.
Parliament has since voted to impeach both Yoon and Prime Minister Han Duck-Soo, who briefly served as acting president following the short-lived decree. Finance Minister Choi Sang-Mok is now serving as acting president.
Yoon has signaled his intent to fight his case in the impeachment trial to stay in office, saying his martial law decree was within his constitutional powers. The Constitutional Court is set to begin the trial on Jan. 14.
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