11:37 UTC+8, 2024-12-11 0
South Korea's Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials chief said that the CIO will attempt to arrest President Yoon Suk-yeol with and without an arrest warrant.
11:37 UTC+8, 2024-12-11 0
South Korea's Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials chief said Wednesday that the CIO will attempt to arrest President Yoon Suk-yeol with and without an arrest warrant if conditions are met, according to multiple media outlets.
South Korean police raided the office of the embattled President Yoon Suk-yeol over his martial law declaration last week, multiple media outlets said Wednesday.
Those subject to the raid were the National Police Agency, the Seoul Metropolitan Police and the National Assembly Police Guards as well as the presidential office.
A group of investigators entered the presidential compound to seize documents on an emergency martial law declared by Yoon on the night of December 3 that was rescinded by the National Assembly hours later.
President Yoon reportedly was not staying in the presidential office building.
South Korean ex-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun Wednesday attempted suicide at detention facility, Yonhap news agency reported, citing a correction official.
The Seoul Central District Court issued a formal arrest warrant for Kim Yong-hyun, who had already been detained since Sunday, after prosecutors accused him of engaging in "essential" activities in insurrection and abusing his power to obstruct the exercising of rights when martial law was in place for six hours between Tuesday and Wednesday last week, the report said.
The court granted the prosecution's request to arrest Kim, saying it was worried that he would destroy evidence, it added.
The former defense chief waived Tuesday's court hearing to review the arrest warrant.
Under the law, while the president mostly has immunity from prosecution while in office, that does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason.
Police arrested early Wednesday South Korea's police commissioner and the Seoul police chief in connection with the probe into President Yoon Suk-yeol's short-lived martial law imposition.
Cho Ji-ho, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, and Kim Bong-sik, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, were arrested on insurrection charges, according to a special investigation team under the national police.
The two police chiefs were suspected of instructing police officers to cordon off the National Assembly compound to block lawmakers from attending a plenary session for a vote against the imposition of the emergency martial law.
Police made the arrest in consideration of seriousness of the charges and the possibility of destruction of evidence by the two officers, Yonhap said, citing police sources.
Authorities had previously confiscated the two officers' cellphones and placed travel bans on them.
Source: Xinhua Editor: Wang Qingchu
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