A Court in Seoul rejected a second request Saturday to extend impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s custody for his failed effort to declare martial law, putting pressure on prosecutors to prosecute him soon.
Yoon was arrested last week on insurrection allegations, becoming the first sitting South Korean president to be imprisoned in a criminal investigation.
Even though his declaration of martial law on December 3 was overturned by lawmakers after only roughly six hours, it was still enough to cause South Korea to experience its greatest political crisis in decades.
Prosecutors stated in a brief statement that the Seoul Central District Court denied a plea for a detention extension on Saturday.
This comes after a judge in the same court said it was “difficult to find sufficient grounds” to grant an extension the day before.
Prosecutors had planned to keep the disgraced leader in custody until February 6 for questioning before formally indicting him, but that plan will now need to be adjusted.
Yoon has refused to cooperate with the criminal probe, with his legal defence team arguing investigators lack legal authority.
The suspended president is also facing a separate hearing in the Constitutional Court which, if it upholds his impeachment, would officially remove him from office.
An election would then have to be held within 60 days.
