Reuters has asked South Korean police to execute an arrest warrant for the impeached president
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s anti-corruption agency said on Monday it had asked police to take over the execution of an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. The request comes after a failed attempt to execute an arrest warrant on Friday following a tense standoff with presidential guards who formed a human chain to block access to investigators.
A joint team of investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO) and the police are investigating allegations that Yoon engineered the rebellion with his short-lived martial law.
The CIO sent a notice to the police to request the takeover, the anti-corruption agency said in a statement to reporters.
The move comes amid frustration among Yoon’s critics over the CIO’s failure to execute the arrest warrant, which is set to expire at midnight Monday (15:00 GMT).
A police official told the Yonhap news agency that they were “internally reviewing the law” following the CIO’s request.
Yoon’s lawyers have argued that the anti-corruption force handling his criminal investigation has no authority under South Korean law to investigate any case involving allegations of sedition.
The Western District Court in Seoul on Sunday rejected an injunction filed by Yoon’s legal team seeking to quash the warrant for the president’s arrest and search of his official residence, according to Yonhap.
Amid ongoing political tensions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting South Korea this week where he is expected to meet with senior government officials to reaffirm the alliance with Seoul, according to the US State Department.
His visit comes after Yoon’s short-lived declaration of martial law last month sent South Korea into political chaos, prompting rare criticism from officials in Washington.
The CIO is an independent agency launched in January 2021 to investigate senior officials, including the president and their family members, but has no powers to prosecute the president.
Instead, the law requires that the case be referred to the prosecutor’s office in order to take any action, including indictment, after the investigation is complete.
