Seoul, July 7 (IANS) A hearing on whether to issue an arrest warrant for former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol over his martial law bid will be held later this week, a court said Monday.
The Seoul Central District Court said the hearing has been scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Wednesday following special counsel Cho Eun-suk’s request for an arrest warrant the previous day.
Yoon plans to attend the hearing in person to present his arguments before the court decides on the warrant later that day or early the next day.
Cho’s team is seeking the former president’s arrest on charges related to his martial law bid in December, including his alleged order to the Presidential Security Service to block his detention by investigators in January.
Yoon also faces charges of violating the rights of Cabinet members by calling only a select few to a meeting held before he declared martial law on December 3, and ordering his aides to write up a second document containing the declaration days after the event in order to make up for legal flaws in the original document.
The special counsel team has questioned the former president twice, and requested the arrest warrant Sunday citing the seriousness of his alleged crimes and concerns he will destroy evidence and flee, according to a copy of the warrant obtained by Yonhap News Agency.
Deputy special counsel Park Ji-young told reporters Monday the team expresses “serious concern” that the warrant was “leaked” to the press.
Park said the team blames Yoon’s lawyers for the leak and will handle it strictly in accordance with relevant laws following an investigation by police.
“Leaks of resident registration numbers are a serious crime, and exposing testimonies from the investigation process to the press has a negative impact on the speakers’ psychology, making it a possible interference in the investigation,” she said.
In the event the court issues the warrant, it will be the second time the former president is placed in custody. The first time was in January when he was still in office.
Yoon attended the arrest warrant hearing at the time as well, Yonhap news agency reported.
In addition to the listed charges, the special counsel team has also been investigating allegations Yoon ordered the military to send drones to Pyongyang last October to provoke North Korea and use it as justification for imposing martial law.
–IANS
int/jk/rs
