Court cancels Yoon arrest warrant – DW – 03/07/2025

A South Korean court on Friday lifted an arrest warrant issued against impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, paving the way for his release from jail while awaiting trial on insurrection charges. 

However, the embattled president’s lawyer, Seok Dong-hyeon, said Yoon will not be immediately released as prosecutors can file an appeal.

The Seoul Central District Court said in a statement it accepted a request for Yoon’s release after ruling the investigative agency had indicted Yoon after an initial detention period had expired. 

The court also cited “questions about the legality” of the legal process during the investigation. 

“To ensure procedural clarity and eliminate any doubts regarding the legality of the investigative process, it would be appropriate to issue a decision to cancel the detention,” the court added.

Yoon’s martial law fiasco

Yoon was arrested in January on criminal charges of fomenting an insurrection after briefly imposing martial law on December 3. 

Scenes of armed soldiers attempting to enter the parliament building shook South Korea and were a reminder of the country’s dictatorship in the 1980s.

The ruling throwing out Yoon’s detention, however, does not dismiss the criminal charges he his facing. 

South Korean investigators say Yoon’s decree amounted to a rebellion, and he could face the death penalty or life in prison if he is convicted.

Yoon resisted arrest for two weeks at his presidential compound in Seoul, with prosecutors making multiple attempts to detain him in a tense standoff with presidential security forces.

Friday’s court decision would allow Yoon to stand trial while not being physically detained. 

Yoon still faces impeachment 

Besides the criminal charges related to insurrection, Yoon was impeached by lawmakers in December and is facing a separate impeachment trial.

Hearings in that trial wrapped up in late February, and the Constitutional Court is expected to rule soon on whether to uphold the impeachment, which would formally remove Yoon from office. A national election to choose a new president would then be held within two months.

South Korea’s opposition party said Friday the decision to cancel Yoon’s arrest was not related to the impeachment proceedings. 

Yoon has remained defiant throughout the impeachment proceedings.

At an impeachment hearing in February, Yoon claimed his martial law move was to root out “external forces, including North Korea, along with anti-state elements” within South Korean society that were “working together to seriously threaten our national security and sovereignty.”

Edited by Sean Sinico