Seoul court issues warrant to arrest former South Korean President Yoon

A Seoul court on Thursday issued a warrant to arrest former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol over last December's martial law decree, marking his second detention in connection with the case, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant after a hearing, following a request by special counsel Cho Eun-suk.

Yoon faces five charges, including violating the rights of cabinet members by excluding most of them from a key meeting ahead of his December 3 martial law declaration.

He is also accused of fabricating a martial law document after the declaration and having it signed by then Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and then Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.

Additional charges include ordering the dissemination of false statements to foreign media, instructing aides to obstruct his arrest in January, and ordering the deletion of call records from secure phones.

Yoon denied all the charges during the hearing. He was later taken to the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, south of the capital.

The former president was first arrested in January, but was released in March after the Seoul Central District Court overturned the detention.