SEOUL: A South Korean court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for former president Yoon Suk Yeol and placed him in custody over his failed martial law bid last year, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Nam Se-jin, a senior judge at Seoul’s Central District Court, issued an arrest warrant for Yoon over concerns that he could destroy evidence in the case, according to Yonhap.
Yoon was formally stripped of office in April after being impeached and suspended by lawmakers over his December 3 attempt to subvert civilian rule, which saw armed soldiers deployed to parliament.
South Korean President Yoon arrested over failed martial law bid
The ex-president and his lawyers attended the hearing and rejected all charges before he was taken to Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, just south of the capital, to await the court’s decision, Yonhap said Thursday.
According to the news agency, this is the second time Yoon has been arrested.
The first time was in January when he was still in office, but a court later accepted his request to cancel his arrest, paving the way for him to be released in March.
Previously, the courts dismissed an arrest warrant for Yoon requested by prosecutors after he initially refused to appear for questioning, citing that he had since expressed a willingness to comply with future summons.
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