Court rejects Yoon’s objection to detention warrant

FILE: Yoon Suk Yeol, the 20th President of Republic of Korea. (Photo By Republic of Korea from Seoul, Republic of Korea/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0)

By Yonhap, Philippine News Agency

SEOUL – A Seoul court has rejected President Yoon Suk Yeol’s request to invalidate detention and search warrants issued against him, court officials confirmed on Sunday.

The Seoul Western District Court dismissed the injunction filed by Yoon’s legal team, which sought to suspend the warrants they described as “illegal.”

The court provided no immediate explanation for its decision.

Yoon’s lawyer, Yun Gap-geun, signaled plans to appeal the ruling.

“We will consider whether to file an appeal with the Supreme Court,” Yun said.

“The dismissal does not confirm the warrants’ legal validity.”

The same court approved the warrant to detain Yoon for questioning over his role in the failed Dec. 3 martial law bid.

It also issued a warrant to search the presidential residence compound in central Seoul.

The Corruption Investigation for High-ranking Officials handling Yoon’s martial law case attempted to execute the warrants Friday, but it withdrew its officials from the site after a six-hour standoff with the Presidential Security Service blocking the entry.

Yoon’s legal team has argued that the warrants were legally flawed, claiming the judge who issued them arbitrarily ruled that the criminal law prohibiting the execution of search or arrest warrants in restricted military and security areas does not apply to Yoon’s case.