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South Korea's anti-corruption agency has sought police assistance to enforce a warrant to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his alleged attempt to impose martial law, both parties confirmed on Monday, Yonhap News Agency reported.
According to the report, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) formally submitted the request on Sunday night, just a day before the warrant was set to expire. "The CIO sent us an official letter requesting our cooperation without prior consultations. We are internally carrying out a legal review," a police official told Yonhap. On Friday, CIO had halted its attempt to detain Yoon, following a prolonged standoff with the Presidential Security Service (PSS). The CIO in a press release had said, "We determined that executing the detention warrant would be practically impossible due to the continued confrontation, and suspended the execution out of concern for the safety of on-site personnel caused by the resistance. We plan to decide on the next steps following a review." It added, "We express serious regret over the behavior of the suspect who refused to comply with legally set procedures," Yonhap reported. On Friday, over 1,000 pro-Yoon protesters gathered near the residence, with slogans such as "Illegal warrant! Completely invalid!" and "Arrest the CIO." Around 2,700 police officers were deployed to maintain order. Investigators had presented court-issued warrants to detain Yoon and search his residence, but they were blocked by PSS chief Park Chong-jun, who cited restrictions on secured areas, Yonhap's report added. The CIO sought the detention warrant after Yoon failed to respond to three summonses for questioning. The agency also obtained a warrant to search the presidential residence. Yoon's legal defence team has called the warrants "illegal and invalid" and filed an injunction to block their execution. Earlier on December 14, last year, Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly over his attempt to impose martial law in the country. The members of the unicameral National Assembly had voted 204 to 85 to impeach South Korea's President. Three members of the National Assembly abstained from voting while eight votes were declared invalid. The voting was conducted through a secret ballot, with two-thirds of the vote needed for impeachment. All 300 members of the assembly cast their votes. After his impeachment, Yoon was suspended from office. (ANI)
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