January 17, 2025
Seoul – A court late Thursday night rejected an impeachment petition against President Yun Seok-yeol challenging his detention, effectively maintaining his detention pending an investigation into rebellion charges.
The decision by the Seoul Central District Court came after two hours of deliberations starting at 5 p.m., with Yoon's legal representatives questioning the legality of the investigation led by the Senior Officials' Corruption Investigation Office. They argued that the warrant for his detention was issued by the Seoul Western District Court but was invalid due to jurisdictional issues.
Following the court's ruling, the information chief is expected to formally arrest Yin on Friday.
President Yoon Seok-yeol and investigators have been locked in a tense standoff since his detention on Wednesday, with the president refusing to speak or participate in the interrogation until Thursday, citing health concerns. Yin's legal team went a step further on Thursday, asking the court to review the legality of Yin's detention.
After refusing to cooperate with questioning in the morning, the president's legal team informed investigators that he would not attend in the afternoon either. South Korea's current president spent the night in a Seoul detention center following hours of interrogation on his first day, during which he remained silent.
The court held a hearing at 5 p.m. to review Yin's request for the legality of detention.
The 48-hour period for detaining the president for interrogation was automatically extended as the court reviewed documents and evidence submitted by the chief information officer to justify his detention. Yin is scheduled to be released Friday morning unless the chief information officer applies for another arrest warrant to extend his detention.
“The Seoul Central District Court requires us to send records for court review. While the court registers our file, investigation time will be put on hold until the records are returned to us after the ruling.
President Yoon's request for a detention review also delayed the chief information officer's decision for several hours on whether to apply for another formal arrest warrant to detain him for another eight days. If a formal arrest warrant is issued, the chief information officer is likely to hand the case over to prosecutors, who have the authority to prosecute the suspect.
“The CIO and prosecutors agreed to spend 10 days each on the investigation, but the time can be adjusted as the situation changes,” the CIO official said.
Article 31 of the Senior Officials Corruption Investigation Office Act stipulates that cases pursued by this agency shall first be under the jurisdiction of the Seoul Central District Court. However, the CIO may file a lawsuit with the competent court in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Law based on the location of the alleged corruption, the location of the evidence, and the circumstances of the defendant.
Seok Dong-hyun, one of Yoon's legal representatives, insisted that the chief information officer had no legal authority to investigate Yoon's accusations of rebellion.
The Seoul Western District Court rejected a previous appeal filed by Yoon's legal team on January 6, explaining that while the suspect can request a court review to challenge the validity of the arrest, he cannot challenge the legality of the arrest warrant.
The court emphasized that both the Blue House and the presidential residence are within the jurisdiction of the Seoul Western District Court, so the arrest warrant does not violate Article 31 of the Chief Information Officer Act.
It also said the information chief filed an investigative order against Yoon on suspicion of abuse of power, which is defined as a form of corruption investigated by the agency. The court said the rebellion charge contained in the warrant was closely related to the abuse of power charge and did not mean the warrant was invalid or illegal.
