South Korean court extends detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol

A South Korean court extended the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol early Sunday, giving prosecutors time to formalise a criminal indictment for insurrection. If found guilty, Yoon could be jailed for life or executed.

A South Korean court issued a warrant early Sunday allowing for the extended detention of the country’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, as investigators probe his failed martial law bid.

Tens of thousands of Yoon’s backers had rallied outside the court on Saturday and scuffled with police as they chanted support for the suspended leader, who plunged South Korea into its worst political chaos in decades with his bid to suspend civilian rule.

The president’s December 3 martial law declaration lasted just six hours, with lawmakers voting it down despite him ordering soldiers to storm parliament to stop them. He was impeached soon after.

ADVERTISEMENT

Yoon was detained in a dawn raid Wednesday on insurrection charges after he refused investigators’ summons and went to ground in his residence, using his presidential security detail to resist arrest.

South Korea’s first sitting president to be detained, Yoon also declined to cooperate during the initial 48 hours detectives were allowed to hold him.

Analysts had said it would have been unlikely for the court to free Yoon.

(AFP)


Read more on FRANCE 24 English

Read also:
Impeached South Korean President Yoon to avoid new questioning over martial law bid
South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol arrested