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CIO requests arrest warrant for President Yoon on charges of insurrection

Published: 30 Dec. 2024, 10:52 Updated: 30 Dec. 2024, 16:00

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

President Yoon Suk Yeol walks off the stage at a regional development meeting at Songam Sports Town in Gangwon on Nov. 6. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) requested an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of insurrection on Monday.

The joint investigative headquarters formed to investigate the Dec. 3 martial law declaration, comprising the CIO, police and the Defense Ministry, announced that it had requested an arrest warrant for Yoon from the Seoul Western District Court around midnight between Sunday and Monday.

Previously, the CIO requested Yoon to appear three times for questioning on charges of insurrection and obstructing the exercise of rights through abuse of power, but he did not appear each time without giving a response.

This is the first time in the constitutional history of Korea that an arrest warrant has been requested for a sitting president.

Former presidents Chun Doo Hwan, Roh Tae-woo, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye were arrested and indicted, but all of the arrests and indictments came after they stepped down from office.

A sitting president has the constitutional privilege of not being prosecuted for criminal offenses while in office, but there are exceptions for cases of insurrection or treason.

An official from the CIO explained that they filed for an arrest warrant at the Seoul Western District Court, considering that Yoon is staying at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong in Yongsan District.

Cases that prosecutors directly prosecute are usually under the jurisdiction of the Seoul Central District Court, while cases that the CIO does not directly prosecute are sent to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office after an investigation.

The court is expected to decide whether to issue the arrest warrant after examining whether the insurrection charges against Yoon have been sufficiently demonstrated and whether his refusal to respond to the CIO's summons is justified.

According to the Criminal Procedure Act, a suspect can be arrested when there are reasonable grounds to believe they committed a crime and they have failed to respond to a summons without justification.

The prosecution’s investigation of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun has substantially demonstrated the allegations against Yoon, namely, that he illegally declared martial law on Dec. 3 to subvert the Constitution.

However, Yoon’s side has maintained that the summonses have been illegitimate because the CIO has no authority to investigate insurrection charges, so Yoon’s absence does not constitute a refusal to appear for questioning.

Accordingly, the court is also expected to examine whether the CIO can investigate insurrection charges against Yoon.

The CIO argues that it can investigate crimes committed by high-ranking public officials and that charges of insurrection are related to the crime of abuse of power by Yoon.

The CIO also argues that it is a recognized prosecutorial agency and that a court has never cited a lack of investigative authority when rejecting an arrest warrant request from the organization.

Even if the court issues an arrest warrant, how and when the CIO can execute it remains unclear, given that Yoon is under the protection of the presidential security service as the incumbent president.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]