Indicting a sitting president for wrongdoing is no easy task, but in South Korea it could be even more difficult due to the vast number of law enforcement agencies.
President Yoon Sul Yeol has already joined the ranks of South Korean presidents impeached by parliament following his ill-fated decision to declare martial law in early December. But as the court considers whether to uphold that impeachment and permanently remove him from power, he also faces a multi-front criminal investigation over sedition charges.
Mr. Yoon was taken into custody by investigators and police at his official residence on Wednesday, ending a tense standoff. He is the first sitting president in South Korea’s history to be questioned on criminal charges. (Mr. Yoon has been suspended but is still technically on the job.) Investigators are negotiating on untrodden ground, and the agencies investigating him risk prolonging the country’s political turmoil if they don’t find a way to cooperate.
And there is an agency that is obliged to protect him.
Here is the playground guide.
Experts say that the decision of the Constitutional Court could come as early as February. The court is facing enormous public pressure to quickly decide to help resolve the current political limbo in the country.
No outcome of the court will affect the status of Mr. Yoon in the criminal proceedings, and the court can proceed with or without his presence. But some speculate that the lawyers Mr. Yoona may be hoping that if the court reinstates him, it will be more difficult for investigators to charge him.
Mr Yoon will now face questioning by investigators over whether he committed rebellion when he ordered troops into parliament during his martial law. Officers are allowed to question him for 48 hours and must apply for a separate court order if they want to formally arrest him.
A convoy of vehicles, allegedly carrying Mr. Yoon, left his official residence on January 15 after investigators and police officers arrived to take him into custody.
Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters
