South Korean investigators will seek an extension of a warrant to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, an official said on Monday, as an anti-graft agency asked police to take over efforts to execute the arrest of the embattled leader.
The requests come after a failed attempt to serve the warrant on Friday following a tense stand-off with presidential security service guards who formed a human chain to block access to Yoon by the investigators.
Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection over his Dec. 3 martial law bid that stunned South Korea and led to the first-ever arrest warrant to be issued by the court for a sitting president.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) is leading a probe, joined by police and the prosecutors’ office, into allegations that Yoon masterminded insurrection with his imposition of martial law.
Yoon was impeached by parliament on Dec. 14 and suspended from presidential duties. The Constitutional Court is trying the case to decide whether to remove him from office permanently or reinstate him.
The CIO sent a notice to police requesting them to take over the execution of the arrest warrant, the anti-corruption agency said in a statement to reporters. A police official told Reuters they were reviewing the request.
The move comes amid frustration among Yoon’s critics towards the CIO for failing to carry out his arrest, which is due to expire at midnight on Monday (1500 GMT).
The CIO plans to request an extension of the arrest warrant in court on Monday, a CIO official said.
Yoon’s lawyers have argued that the anti-graft force leading his criminal investigation has no authority under South Korean law to investigate any case involving insurrection accusations.
On Monday, Seek Dong-Hyeon, a lawyer advising Yoon, said the bid to transfer the execution of the arrest warrant is effectively an admission by the CIO that its probe and the warrant were “illegal”.
The Seoul Western District Court on Sunday dismissed an injunction filed by Yoon’s legal team seeking to invalidate the warrants to arrest the president and search his official residence, according to Yonhap.
