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South Korean anti-corruption investigators were waiting on Tuesday for a new court-ordered arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose failed martial law bid threw the country into turmoil.
The background: Yoon has refused questioning three times over and is holed up in his Seoul residence surrounded by hundreds of guards preventing his arrest.
It is likely a new warrant will be granted by the same court that issued the first order, which expired after seven days, but investigators refused to disclose the duration of the new warrant they were seeking.
The key quote: “The Joint Investigation Headquarters today refiled a warrant with the Seoul Western District Court to extend the arrest warrant for defendant Yoon.” — The Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) on Monday
“Details regarding the validity period cannot be disclosed.”
What else to know: Yoon is being investigated on charges of insurrection and, if formally arrested and convicted, faces prison or, at worst, the death penalty. His failed martial law decree .
He would also become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested.
His lawyers have repeatedly said the initial warrant was “unlawful” and “illegal” and have pledged to take further legal action against it.
