South Korean special prosecutors have filed a request for a detention warrant against the former president Yoon Suk Yeol, the authorities announced this Sunday 6 July. This query is related to his controversial imposition of martial law last December, during a period of political unrest.
The prosecutor's office said the detention request is based on accusations of abuse of power et obstruction of justice, as part of an investigation into the circumstances of the declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024At the time, Yoon was still in office and justified the move by citing alleged risks of uprising, which sparked fierce criticism and suspicions of attempted authoritarianism.
Yoon appeared this week for a in-depth interrogation at the Seoul Prosecutor General's Office. He strongly denies the accusations.
This development marks a historic turning point in South Korean politics: no South Korean president has ever been prosecuted for activating martial law since the end of the military dictatorship in the 1980s.
