South Korean court approves release of arrested President Yoon

A South Korean court approved the release of arrested President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday, opening a possibility for the impeached leader to be tried without detention.

The Seoul Central District Court accepted Yoon's request to cancel his arrest, which was made by Yoon's legal team on February 4.

Without the prosecution's appeal, Yoon will be released, but the appeal will suspend his release until another judge of the court decides on it.

The court said the arrest cancellation is desirable to ensure procedural clarity and dispel doubts about the investigation process, stressing that if Yoon's criminal trial proceedings are carried out with controversies left unresolved, it could lead to an annulment at a higher court or a retrial cause.

During a relevant hearing on February 20, Yoon's side argued that the impeached leader was indicted under detention after the expiration of the arrest warrant period, while the prosecution claimed that it was a legitimate indictment.

The court noted that the defendant Yoon was prosecuted after the expiration of his arrest period, as the arrest period should be calculated based on an actual time, not by date.

Yoon was apprehended in the presidential residence on January 15 and was indicted under detention on January 26 as a suspected ringleader of insurrection, becoming the country's first sitting president to be arrested and prosecuted.

Prosecutors brought the accusation against Yoon at 6:52 p.m. local time on January 26, but the court said Yoon's arrest period expired at 9:07 a.m. local time on the same day.

The court ruled that the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) has no right to investigate an insurrection case while the CIO and the prosecution divided and used the arrest period without a legal basis.

After an initial investigation, the CIO referred Yoon's insurrection case to the prosecution in January.

Yoon declared an emergency martial law on the night of December 3 last year, but it was revoked by the opposition-led National Assembly hours later.

A motion to impeach Yoon was passed in the National Assembly on December 14, and since then the constitutional court has held 11 hearings on Yoon's impeachment, with its final verdict widely expected to be delivered next week.