South Korean court orders release of impeached President Yoon
What's the story
The Seoul Central District Court has ordered the release of Yoon Suk Yeol, the impeached President of South Korea.
The court found that prosecutors had violated procedural rules by detaining him longer than legally permitted before his indictment last month.
In a statement, Yoon's legal team hailed the court's ruling as demonstrating "that the rule of law is still alive in this country" and demanded that "prosecutors should immediately order the president's release."
Charges explained
Yoon's detention and indictment
Yoon was arrested on January 15, and formally charged with insurrection 11 days later, over his brief imposition of martial law in December.
Since then, his legal team has been pushing for his release from jail.
The ruling on Friday, however, only addressed procedural discrepancies regarding Yoon's arrest and indictment, not the charges he faces in his criminal trial.
Impeachment status
Constitutional Court's deliberation on impeachment
In its ruling, the court stated that the crime of insurrection is not included within the investigative authority of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO), which had obtained the arrest warrant against Yoon.
The court also noted it was unclear whether the insurrection charges indictment was brought after the defendant's custody period expired.
It therefore annulled Yoon's arrest warrant to "ensure procedural clarity and eliminate doubts regarding the legality of the investigation process."
Crisis details
Martial law declaration and political crisis
The court will now convey its decision to the detention center, which stated that it expects to release Yoon by the end of Friday.
On December 3, Yoon had unexpectedly declared martial law, accusing the opposition-controlled National Assembly of "paralyzing" his government.
The assembly rejected his martial law decree, forcing him to rescind it after six hours.
The country's highest court, the Constitutional Court, will now rule in the coming weeks on whether to uphold Yoon's impeachment or reinstate him.