Charging a sitting president with wrongdoing is no simple task, but in South Korea, it may be still more difficult because of the sheer number of law enforcement agencies involved.
President Yoon Sul Yeol has already joined the ranks of South Korean presidents impeached by Parliament, a consequence of his ill-fated decision to declare martial law in early December. But as a court considers whether to uphold that impeachment and remove him permanently from power, he is also facing criminal investigations on multiple fronts into accusations of insurrection.
Mr. Yoon was detained at his official residence on Wednesday by investigators and police officers, ending a tense standoff. He is the first sitting president in South Korean history to be taken in for questioning on criminal charges. (Mr. Yoon has been suspended, but he is still technically in office.) Investigators are negotiating untrodden ground, and the agencies that are investigating him risk prolonging the country’s political turmoil if they do not find a way to cooperate.
And then there is the agency that is obligated to protect him.
Here’s a guide to the playing field.
Experts say the Constitutional Court’s decision may come as soon as February. The court faces tremendous public pressure to decide quickly to help resolve the country’s current political limbo.
Neither outcome from the court will affect Mr. Yoon’s standing in criminal proceedings, and the court can proceed with or without his presence. But some speculate that Mr. Yoon’s lawyers may be hoping that if the court reinstates him, it will be harder for investigators to charge him.
Mr. Yoon will now face questioning from investigators over whether he committed insurrection when he ordered troops into Parliament during his martial law. Officials are allowed to question him for 48 hours and need to apply for a separate court warrant if they want to formally arrest him.
A motorcade, apparently carrying Mr. Yoon, left his official residence on Jan. 15 after investigators and police officers arrived to detain him.
Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters
2025-01-14 22:29:31
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