South Korea’s anti-corruption agency on Friday said it would ask a Seoul court to extend the detention of arrested embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol as he again refused to be questioned by investigators.
News360 Info reports that on Wednesday, Yoon became the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested, over a probe into whether he committed insurrection when he briefly imposed martial law in early December.
He is being held at the Seoul Detention Centre.
Investigators at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, CIO, that is leading the inquiry need to request a court to approve a detention warrant for up to 20 days to hold Yoon in custody for longer.
A CIO official, while fielding questions from newsmen, said Yoon’s current arrest term was due to expire by Friday evening.
“I think you can consider it almost finished,” the official said responding to a question on whether investigators were set to file a request to detain Yoon further.
The Seoul Central District Court struck down a challenge on Thursday from Yoon’s lawyers over the legality of his arrest.
The impeached president stonewalled efforts by the CIO to interrogate him on Thursday and again on Friday while his party has capitalised on political polarisation to improve its approval ratings since Yoon’s arrest, polling showed.
In a statement, Yoon’s lawyer, Seok Dong-hyeon, said he has fully stated his basic position on the first day of the arrest, adding that they believe there is no reason or need to answer the question and answer style back-and-forth.
The legal team of the suspended president has denied that Yoon masterminded an insurrection, a crime in South Korea punishable by life imprisonment or even technically by the death penalty.
Seok said on Friday that he expected investigators to seek a detention warrant, but hoped there would be a more careful and comprehensive consideration of the arrest’s illegality when a court reviewed the warrant.
News360 Info gathered that South Korea is grappling with its worst political crisis in decades, sparked by Yoon’s brief attempt to impose martial law on December 3 that stunned the nation and was swiftly voted down by parliament.
Yoon was impeached on December 14 and faces a Constitutional Court trial that started this week to decide whether to permanently suspend his powers or return him to office.
