What you need to know about the investigations facing South Korean President Yoon

By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, several cabinet ministers, military commanders and police officials face criminal charges and investigations over the president’s brief declaration of martial law on Dec. 3.

Yoon, who has been charged, also faces a trial in the Constitutional Court that will decide whether to confirm his dismissal or restore his presidential powers.

A South Korean court on Tuesday granted an arrest warrant for Yoon in a separate criminal investigation, a first for a sitting president in the country.

Prosecutors, police and the Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO) have begun charging some of the senior military officers under investigation on charges of insurrection and abuse of power, among others.

Here’s what we know about the criminal investigations so far:

WHO FACE CHARGES?

Yoon has not been charged and has not yet received an arrest warrant. But its former defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, has been arrested and charged with alleged insurrection and abuse of power.

The heads of the Capital Defense Command and the Defense Counterintelligence Command have also been charged since Tuesday.

Others involved in the case include former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min and army chief Park An-su, who was appointed commander of the military’s martial law Special Warfare Command, as well as several other military generals and senior officials. police officials, including national and Seoul officers. police chiefs, accused of playing a role in the martial law plan.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was impeached on Friday by the main opposition Democratic Party, is also being questioned for his role in not blocking Yoon’s martial law.

Yoon, Kim, Lee, the national and Seoul police chiefs and more than 10 military commanders have been banned from leaving the country.

The Seoul Western District Court granted the CIO’s request to obtain an arrest warrant for Yoon, as well as a search warrant for his residence.

It was unclear how or when the arrest warrants against Yoon would be carried out. Yoon previously failed to respond to multiple summonses from investigating authorities for questioning, and attempts to search the presidential office were repeatedly blocked by the presidential security service.

WHO LEADS THE INVESTIGATIONS?

The Supreme Prosecutor’s Office has set up a special investigation office to examine the case for the first time since it investigated a 2016 corruption scandal involving then-President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached and eventually ousted.

The team consists of about 50 prosecutors and investigators, and a dozen military prosecutors have also been recruited, its boss Park Se-hyun said.

The national police agency has also confirmed the start of its investigation, which Yonhap news agency said includes about 150 officers and investigators.

The CIO separately opened an investigation after receiving complaints about national police chief Cho Ji-ho and other senior police officials.

The Ministry of Defense also has officials investigating the matter. These different agencies are working together under the name “joint investigation unit,” but Yoon’s legal counsel has claimed that the different agencies’ investigations remain disjointed and overlapping.

Parliament has passed bills for the appointment of special counsels who will lead a collective investigation with the support of other agencies, but the bills have not yet been approved by an acting president.

WHAT POSITIONS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

The officials face possible charges of insurrection, abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of their rights by others.

If convicted, the crime of leading an insurrection is punishable by death or life imprisonment, with or without prison labor. For those who participated in activities key to the insurrection, punishment could range from death to life imprisonment and imprisonment without prison labor for at least five years. People who simply participated in the plot or violence face prison sentences, with or without prison labor, of less than five years.

Abuse of authority carries a prison sentence of less than five years or fines of up to 10 million won ($7,000), while obstruction of other people’s rights is punishable by a prison sentence of less than five years or fines. up to 7 million won.

South Korea last handed down a death sentence in 2016, but has not executed anyone since 1997.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Joyce Lee; Editing by Alex Richardson, Ros Russell, Michael Perry and Raju Gopalakrishnan)