South Korea’s Ex-President Yoon Faces Arrest Hearing Over Martial Law Charges

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended a court hearing on Wednesday over his possible arrest for trying to impose martial law in December last year.

The hearing took place at Seoul Central District Court after special counsel Cho Eun-suk requested an arrest warrant against Yoon for five main charges. These include calling only select Cabinet members for a meeting before declaring martial law on December 3.

Yoon entered court without answering reporters’ questions.

He is accused of creating a fake martial law document after December 3 to make his decision look legal. This document was allegedly signed by then Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun before being destroyed.

Other charges include telling his spokesperson to share false statements denying his plan to destroy the constitutional order, ordering the Presidential Security Service to block investigators from detaining him in January, and telling staff to delete call records from secure military phones.

Yoon’s team has denied all allegations.

The court is expected to announce its decision on the arrest warrant by late Wednesday or early Thursday. Until then, Yoon will stay at the Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang, south of the capital.

If the court approves his arrest, it will be his second time in custody. He was first detained in January while still president, according to Yonhap news agency.

To maintain security around the court, Seoul police have deployed about 2,000 officers and 350 safety equipment items, including fences, until the decision is made.