Skorea prosecutors renew request for longer detention for accused leader

Seoul, South Korea – South Korean prosecutors on Saturday again requested an extension of accused President Yoon Suk Yeol’s detention over his failed martial law bid, after a Seoul court rejected an earlier demand, Yonhap news agency reported.

Yoon was arrested in a dawn raid last week on insurrection charges, becoming the first South Korean head of state to be detained in a criminal investigation.

His martial law decree only lasted about six hours before lawmakers forced their way into parliament, but he still managed to plunge South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.

A court issued an arrest warrant last week, saying there was a risk of destroying evidence, but investigators have said the original document expires on Tuesday.

On Friday night, the Seoul Central District Court rejected a request by investigators to extend his detention until Feb. 6, saying it was “difficult to find sufficient grounds,” prosecutors said in a statement.

Just a few hours later, prosecutors filed a new request, Yonhap reported.

They must now decide whether they will be charged for “leading an insurrection and abuse of power”, as recommended by the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which has handed them the case.

Yoon remains in a detention center in Seoul.

The CIO accused Yoon of conspiring with his former defense minister and other military commanders to “disrupt the constitutional order.”

Experts say Friday’s ruling means prosecutors will have to move quickly to charge Yoon to keep him in detention.

“The judge appears to have determined that there is no justification for further investigation of Yoon and that the prosecution must decide whether to press charges,” Yoo Jung-hoon, a lawyer and political commentator, told Agence France-Presse.

Yoon has refused to cooperate with the criminal investigation into his martial law declaration, with his legal defense team arguing that investigators lack legal authority.

The suspended president also faces a separate hearing at the Constitutional Court which, if he upholds his impeachment, would officially remove him from office.

An election would also have to be held within 60 days.

Yoon remains South Korea’s head of state despite his detention.