South Korea prosecutors want ex-president Yoon in jail once more

South Korea’s special prosecutors on Sunday (July 6) filed a request to detain former President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges related to insurrection, stemming from his controversial declaration of martial law last year.

The request is tied to allegations of abuse of power and obstruction of justice, the office of the special counsel said in a statement, citing Yoon’s actions during the December 3 incident, when he briefly imposed martial law during a political standoff.

“Today, the special counsel filed a request for a detention warrant with the Seoul Central District Court for former president Yoon Suk Yeol on charges including abuse of power and obstruction of special official duties,” Prosecutor Park Ji-young, a member of the counsel, told reporters.

Yoon’s decree lasted for roughly six hours before it was struck down by lawmakers, some of whom were forced to scale the walls of the National Assembly to bypass security forces encircling the building and cast their votes against the measure.

The former president was questioned for several hours on Saturday (July 5) by the special counsel as part of the ongoing investigation into the attempted insurrection, officials said.

Yoon’s legal team criticised the detention request. They argued that prosecutors have not provided credible evidence to support the charges. In a statement, his lawyers said they plan to “explain in court that the request for an arrest warrant is unreasonable.”

Last week, the court had dismissed an arrest warrant requested by the special counsel after Yoon initially refused to appear for questioning, citing that he had since expressed a willingness to comply with future summons.

The latest development marks a dramatic turn in the political fallout from Yoon’s brief but highly controversial martial law declaration, which drew widespread criticism from political opponents and rights groups at the time.

With inputs from agencies