Yoon Faces Impeachment Trial and Pressure for Swift Indictment
SEOUL: A Seoul court on Saturday rejected a second request to extend the detention of impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed attempt to declare martial law, putting additional pressure on prosecutors to quickly indict him.
Yoon was arrested last week on insurrection charges, becoming the first sitting South Korean head of state to be detained in a criminal probe.
His December 3 martial law decree lasted only about six hours before it was voted down by lawmakers, but it plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.
The Seoul Central District Court on Saturday turned down the request for a detention extension, as confirmed by prosecutors in a brief statement.
This follows a ruling by the same court the day before when a judge stated it was “difficult to find sufficient grounds” for granting an extension.
Prosecutors had planned to keep the leader in custody until February 6 for questioning before formally indicting him, but this plan will now have to be adjusted.
“With the court’s rejection of the extension, prosecutors must now act quickly to formally indict Yoon to keep him behind bars,” said Yoo Jung-hoon, an attorney and political commentator.
Yoon has refused to cooperate with the criminal investigation, with his legal defense team arguing that the investigators lack legal authority.
The suspended president is also facing a separate hearing in the Constitutional Court, which, if it upholds his impeachment, would officially remove him from office.
An election would then have to be held within 60 days.
