South Korea Court Again Rejects Prosecutors' Request To Extend Yoon's Arrest

SEOUL, Jan 25 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Saturday again turned down prosecutors' request for an extension of President Yoon Suk Yeol's arrest, prosecution officials said, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The Seoul Central District Court upheld its earlier decision to deny the request, citing "similar grounds" as the previous day's ruling, a prosecution official said.

The special prosecution team filed a new request with the court to extend the warrant until Feb 6, but the court rejected it, stating that it saw little need for the prosecution to "supplement" the investigation, which has been led by the anti-corruption agency.

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The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) transferred the case to the prosecution earlier this week, as the agency lacks the legal mandate to indict a president.

Requesting the extension, prosecutors cited the need to continue the investigation, including in-person questioning of Yoon, as the president has largely refused to cooperate with the probe.

The court's rejection leaves the prosecution needing to decide whether to indict him before his release is required on Monday. It is highly likely that the prosecution will indict the president on Sunday.

Law enforcement agencies are investigating Yoon over allegations that he was the mastermind behind the Dec 3 martial law imposition, which has plunged the country into a political crisis.

Yoon faces potential charges of insurrection and abuse of power for allegedly colluding with then-Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun and others to start a riot by declaring martial law and deploying troops to parliament to prevent lawmakers from voting down the decree.

Yoon has been incarcerated at the Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang, south of the capital, since his formal arrest on 19 December.

A Constitutional Court trial is under way to determine whether to uphold or dismiss his impeachment by the National Assembly.

While Yoon has appeared for his impeachment trial at the top court, his legal team has argued that the CIO's investigation against him is legally flawed, calling for his immediate release.

"The CIO's investigation itself is illegal and fundamentally null and void," Yun Gap-geun, his lawyer, told reporters at a press briefing earlier in the day. "It's best that they stop all attempts to bring down the president."

--BERNAMA-YONHAP