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South Korean court approves new arrest of former President Yoon Suk-yol

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, centerm arrives at a court to attend a hearing to review his arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors in Seoul, South Korea Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)

Seoul. Seoul: A South Korean court on Thursday morning approved a new arrest of former President Yoon Suk Yol on charges related to his act of imposing brief martial law in December. The court approved the new arrest, accepting the special prosecutor’s claim that he risks destroying evidence.

An arrest warrant issued by the Seoul Central District Court sent Yun back to a detention center near the capital, four months after his release in March. The same court had quashed his January arrest and allowed him to stand on a case of rebellion without being detained.

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His criminal case is being handled by a team of investigators led by special prosecutor Cho Yun-sook. The team is making further allegations, including obstructing official duties, misusing power and forging official documents for Yun’s authoritarian efforts.

Cho’s team questioned him twice before submitting a request for his arrest warrant to court on Sunday.

Yun’s lawyers described the arrest request as excessive and baseless. They did not immediately respond to the court’s decision to approve the arrest of Yun, who was formally removed from office in April after the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment.

Yun did not respond to questions from reporters when he arrived in court on Wednesday afternoon to review the special prosecutor’s request. After a nearly seven-hour hearing, Yun was taken to the detention center to await the court’s decision.

Yun’s new arrest could potentially mark the beginning of an extended period of detention for months or longer. Yun can initially be detained at the center for up to 20 days. The special prosecutor will aim to indict him on further charges.

If found guilty of a new charge, it could put him in custody for up to six months until the court’s initial verdict. If that court convicts him and sentences him, Yun will face that sentence because the case could possibly go to higher courts.

Park Ji-young, a senior investigator in Cho’s team, said he planned to question Yun again on Friday. Yun was absent from Thursday’s hearing in Seoul court on his previous charges of rebellion, and his lawyers did not immediately offer any explanation for his absence.

Yun, a former conservative, on December 3 accused his “anti-state” liberal opponents of using his legislative majority to disrupt his agenda, describing his martial law as a necessary step. However, Yun’s order lasted only a few hours after the National Assembly broke the blockade of heavily armed soldiers and voted to remove the measure by the core of lawmakers.

Yun was impeached by lawmakers on December 14, and on January 26, prosecutors accused him of masterminding an attempted coup and described his seizure of power as an illegal attempt to seize legislative and election offices and detain political opponents. The punishment for these charges could be death penalty or life imprisonment.

Yun has also faced allegations of enforcing martial law without following the necessary legal procedures. He has been accused of illegally deploying presidential security forces, such as private forces, to prevent an initial attempt by law enforcement to detain him at his residence in early January.

His moderate rival and current President Lee Jae-myung last month approved legislation to launch a comprehensive special investigation into Yun’s martial law failure and other criminal charges related to his wife and administration. Lee won the immediate election in June to replace Yun.

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