South Korean prosecutors request detention for ex-president Yoon
Yoon, who is facing a criminal trial on insurrection charges over the martial law declaration in December, was arrested in January after resisting authorities trying to take him into custody, but was released after 52 days on technical grounds.
'Detention request is related to allegations of abuse of power and obstruction of justice,' the special prosecutors investigating the declaration said in a statement.
The spokesperson for the special prosecutors declined to elaborate when asked why the detention request was submitted, saying they would explain it in court proceedings to decide on whether it should be granted.
Yoon's lawyers said in a statement that the special prosecutors had not provided credible evidence for the charges they were seeking, and his legal team would 'explain in court that the request for an arrest warrant is unreasonable'.
Park Jong-joon, former head of the Presidential Security Service (PSS), appears at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office to be questioned by a special counsel team over former president Yoon's insurrection charges in connection with his martial law declaration on Friday. Photo: EPA
Yoon has been accused of mobilising presidential guards to stop authorities from arresting him in January, but the court has previously dismissed the request for an arrest warrant after Yoon had initially refused to appear for questioning.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Shandong's visit a ‘patriotic lesson', Eric Chan says as Chinese warships depart Hong Kong
Hundreds of people have flocked to the Hong Kong waterfront to catch a final glimpse of the Shandong aircraft carrier and its fleet as they conclude their five-day port call to the city, with the No 2 official saying the visit has boosted residents' national pride. During his speech on Monday, Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki said the port call, which was part of the celebration marking the 28th anniversary of the city's handover to China, had demonstrated the country's care and staunch support for the city. '[It] gives Hong Kong residents a precious opportunity to see with their own eyes the country's first independently designed, built and equipped aircraft carrier, and to feel the strength of the country's military power and progress of its scientific development up close, enhancing our national confidence and pride,' Chan said. The senior official also said the visits, exchanges and seminars held during the fleet's five-day visit to the city, provided a lesson in patriotic education for Hongkongers – particularly the youth – deepening their understanding of the country's national defence infrastructure. Play Shortly before 11am, the Shandong was seen passing through the East Lamma Channel, with crowds gathering hours before at the South Horizons private residential estate in Hong Kong Island's Southern district to take a final glimpse.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
In Japan, it's getting tougher to make ends meet as wages lag inflation
Japanese workers' real wages dropped by the most since September 2023 as inflation continued to outpace salary growth, posing a growing problem for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ahead of a key election taking place in about two weeks. Real wages declined 2.9 per cent from a year earlier in May, compared to economists' consensus call of a 1.7 per cent fall, the labour ministry reported on Monday. Nominal wages rose 1 per cent from the previous year, climbing at a much slower pace than economists expected. While the drop in real wages shows the pain being felt by voters heading into the election on July 20, the strength in underlying wage trends keeps the Bank of Japan on a path of mulling further interest rate increases. The sharp drop in real wages highlights the persistent strength of inflation and presents a headache for the minority ruling coalition ahead of the coming upper house election. With prices continuing to rise faster than wages, public frustration has grown, pressuring political leaders to come up with more convincing strategies to alleviate the cost-of-living squeeze. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party has offered cash handouts as an incentive to voters ahead of a looming election. Photo: Kyodo 'In the ongoing election campaign, candidates often cite real wage figures from this monthly report,' said Sota Takano, a senior economist at Itochu Research Institute. 'Today's release suggests people are struggling with the cost of living – that's a discouraging result for Ishiba.'
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
What can South Korea learn from Israel-Iran war to stop the North's missiles?
For years, South Korea 's government has invested billions in missile shields and early warning systems, determined to keep the threat of Pyongyang's ever-expanding arsenal at bay. Advertisement But the relentless exchange of missiles that defined last month's Israel-Iran conflict exposed a harsh truth, analysts say: that even the most advanced defences can be pierced, and even the best-prepared nations may find themselves outmanoeuvred – offering a sobering reminder for South Korean military planners of how quickly Seoul's own defences could be overwhelmed. North Korea has spent the past decade testing a dizzying array of missiles, from short-range rockets to long-range cruise missiles, each designed to probe and overwhelm the South's defences. Pyongyang's strategy is to saturate the skies, analysts warn, launching waves of projectiles in hopes that a few will slip past and strike at the heart of the South. 'Like Iran, North Korea will also pursue a strategy of neutralising our air defence system by using a combination of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones,' Lee Sang-gyu, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Defence Analyses, told This Week in Asia. 'While Israel's multilayered air defence system was successful this time in blocking attacks, it showed that even the most sophisticated air defence systems are bound to have holes. Based on this reality, South Korea needs to review its defence systems and operations.'
