SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s anti-corruption officials on Thursday requested that prosecutors indict impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for insurrection and abuse of power over his short-lived martial law declaration.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) named Yoon, the first sitting president to be arrested in South Korea’s history, as the ringleader of an insurrection, also involving his defense minister at the time.
The dramatic events of recent weeks have plunged South Korea into a political crisis that has dragged on the economy and raised concerns among allies, including the U.S., about the country’s political stability.
Yoon, impeached and suspended from power on Dec. 14, has been incarcerated since last week pending an investigation into his Dec. 3 attempt to impose martial law — a move that shocked the nation even though it was overturned within hours by parliament.
The CIO was established in 2021 as an independent anti-graft agency to investigate high-ranking officials including the president and their family members and has led a joint team involving police and the defense ministry, while prosecutors carry out their own inquiry.
Under the law, the CIO can only investigate the president, not prosecute, and must refer any case to the prosecutors’ office for further action.
The CIO has said Yoon’s detention is due to end around Jan. 28, but they expect prosecutors to ask the court to extend it for another 10 days before they formally charge the president.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office declined to comment.
Prosecutors have already charged Yoon’s defense minister at the time, Kim Yong-hyun, with insurrection. Chiefs of the Capital Defense Command, the Defense Counterintelligence Command, and the Seoul police and the national police commissioner are also among the officials indicted so far.
Since his arrest on Jan. 15, Yoon has refused to speak to CIO investigators and defied their summons.
Lee Jae-seung, deputy chief of the CIO, said it would be more “efficient” for the prosecutors to take over the investigation before indicting Yoon, citing the president’s refusal to cooperate.
“Despite the fact that the suspect is under serious allegations that he was ringleader of an insurrection, he continues to be uncooperative to this day, not responding to the criminal justice proceedings and refusing our questioning itself,” Lee told a briefing.
He said investigators had obtained testimonies from several military officials on Yoon allegedly trying to arrest politicians and mentioning a second martial law order. Yoon and his lawyers denied these allegations.
Yoon, a top prosecutor before becoming president, now finds his criminal case in the hands of prosecutors from that same world, though how close their current ties are is unclear.
Yoon’s lawyers have repeatedly said the CIO has no authority to handle his case as the law stipulates a wide-ranging list of high-ranking officials and violations it can investigate, but has no mention of insurrection.
A Seoul court ruled against Yoon’s lawyers when they tried to make that argument to prevent his arrest.
Yoon’s team also said any criminal investigation should be conducted after the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove Yoon from office in its separate trial on his impeachment.
The lawyers reiterated the position on Thursday to say they will hold the CIO accountable for what they called its illegal investigation, while asking prosecutors taking over the case to comply with the law.
In comments on Tuesday to the Constitutional Court, Yoon denied ordering troops to drag lawmakers out of parliament or asking the finance minister to prepare a budget for an emergency legislative body.
Insurrection, the crime that Yoon may be charged with, is one of the few that a South Korean president does not have immunity from and is technically punishable by death. South Korea, however, has not executed anyone in nearly 30 years.
Yoon attended another Constitutional Court hearing in his impeachment trial on Thursday afternoon.
His lawyers repeated the president’s earlier argument that he never intended to fully impose martial law, but had meant the measures as a warning to break political deadlock.
In his first public appearance since attempting suicide in jail last month, former defense minister Kim appeared as a witness at Thursday’s hearing and argued that the small number of troops mobilized proved that Yoon was not serious about imposing military control.
