Seoul: A hearing on whether to issue an arrest warrant for former President Yoon Suk Yeol regarding his martial law bid will be held later this week, a court announced Monday. The Seoul Central District Court has scheduled the hearing for 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, following special counsel Cho Eun-suk's request for an arrest warrant made the previous day. Yoon plans to attend the hearing in person to present his arguments before the court makes its decision on the warrant later that day or early the next day.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Cho's team is seeking the former president's arrest on charges related to his martial law bid in December, including allegations that he ordered the Presidential Security Service to prevent his detention by investigators in January. Yoon also faces accusations of violating the rights of Cabinet members by summoning only a select few to a meeting before he declared martial law on December 3, and instructing his aides to draft a second document containing the declaration to address legal issues in the original document.
The special counsel team has questioned the former president twice and requested the arrest warrant on Sunday, citing the seriousness of his alleged crimes and concerns that he might destroy evidence and flee. This information comes from a copy of the warrant obtained by Yonhap News Agency. Deputy special counsel Park Ji-young expressed "serious concern" on Monday regarding the alleged leak of the warrant to the press, attributing the leak to Yoon's lawyers and stating that it would be addressed strictly in accordance with relevant laws following a police investigation.
Park emphasized the gravity of leaking resident registration numbers, noting that exposing testimonies from the investigation process to the press negatively impacts the speakers' psychology and potentially interferes with the investigation. If the court issues the warrant, it will be the second time the former president is placed in custody; the first instance occurred in January while he was still in office. Yoon attended the arrest warrant hearing at that time as well.
Beyond the charges already listed, the special counsel team is also investigating allegations that Yoon ordered the military to deploy drones to Pyongyang last October to provoke North Korea and use the situation as justification for imposing martial law.