A Seoul court is set to decide as early as Saturday night whether to formally arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law decree.
The Seoul Western District Court is scheduled to hold a hearing at 2 p.m. to review a request by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) for an arrest warrant to be issued against Yoon.
If issued, Yoon would become the first sitting president in South Korea's constitutional history to be formally arrested.
Should the request be denied, Yoon is expected to return to the presidential residence and bolster his claims that the ongoing investigations into his martial law decree and impeachment are unfounded.
Yoon's legal team said he will attend the court hearing.
The CIO is leading a joint investigation with the police and the military over whether Yoon's martial law declaration amounted to an attempted insurrection.
Yoon shocked the nation by briefly imposing martial law on Dec. 3, plunging South Korea into its worst political turmoil in decades.
Yoon's lawyers have said the move is not a crime but an "exercise of presidential authority to overcome a national crisis" caused by the opposition-led impeachments of Cabinet members and its unilateral budget reduction.
His presidential powers were suspended after the National Assembly passed a motion to impeach him on Dec. 14.
The anti-corruption agency said Yoon allegedly issued an illegal martial law bid that bans the National Assembly's political activities and mobilized the martial law command and police to shut down parliament in order to thwart efforts to lift the martial law imposition.
Also among the charges brought against Yoon is allegedly attempting to arrest and detain key politicians and employees of the national election watchdog.
Factors, such as the risk of the suspect fleeing or destroying evidence and whether the suspect has explained his position, will be considered.
Investigators sought an arrest warrant for Yoon on Friday, two days after they apprehended him at his residence and took him to a detention center following questioning.
Since being detained, Yoon has refused to appear for questioning over his martial law bid.
He filed a request with the Seoul Central District Court to review the legality of his detention, but the court dismissed the challenge Thursday night, keeping him in custody.
Yoon's legal team is expected to maintain its argument that the CIO lacks the authority to investigate a case of insurrection and that the Seoul Western District Court does not have proper jurisdiction over the martial law case.
If the court issues a warrant to formally arrest Yoon, the CIO can extend his detention to 20 days, during which the agency will transfer the case to prosecutors for an indictment. (Yonhap)
