South Korea officials urge acting president to order security service to execute Yoon arrest warrant News
Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
South Korea officials urge acting president to order security service to execute Yoon arrest warrant

South Korea’s Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) on Saturday sent an official document to Acting President Choi Sang-mok  requesting him to order the Presidential Security Service to comply with execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol, according to the Korean Broadcasting System.

After President Yoon failed to appear for the CIO’s summons three times, the Seoul Western District Court approved an arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol on charges of insurrection and abuse of power. Yoon asserts that the Public Prosecutor’s Office legally cannot investigate insurrection. The Constitution gives sitting presidents immunity from criminal prosecution except for treason or insurrection. The Public Prosecutor’s Office holds that the Prosecutor’s Office Act allows them to investigate crimes concerning abuse of power by high-ranking officials.

South Korea’s Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) ended their 5-hour and 30-minute attempt to arrest Yoon on Friday at his residence after the Presidential Security Service’s obstruction by use of military personnel. The PPO sent an official letter on Wednesday to Choi requesting cooperation in executing the arrest warrant. Choi did not respond. The PPO has until January 6 to execute the arrest warrant for Yoon.

The National Assembly impeached Yoon eleven days after Yoon declared martial law on December 3, 2024. Yoon justified his declaration as necessary to combat pro-North Korean members in the National Assembly. The short-lived martial law order lasted six hours after the National Assembly unanimously voted to lift it despite military and police blocking the entrance into their chamber. The impeachment motion claimed that Yoon violated the Constitution by abusing his power to lead an insurrection using martial law. The Constitution allows the president to declare martial law only during war, armed conflict, or similar national emergencies.

Choi as Financial Minister became the Acting President after the National Assembly impeached his predecessor Prime Minister Han Duck Soo on December 27, 2024. The impeachment motion accuses Han of obstructing justice and failing to fulfill his duties by refusing to appoint judges for the Constitutional Court’s three vacancies necessary for Yoon’s impeachment trial to be held. The Constitutional Court must decide his impeachment case by June 2025 for Yoon to be able to lose his Presidential power. Choi announced the three judges he works to immediately appoint to fill the vacancies.

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