The Office of Corruption Investigation for High-ranking Officials says that the president was trying to 'break into the constitutional order'.
South Korea's anti-corruption agency has recommended that President Yoon Suk-yeol be charged with treason and abuse of power following an investigation into the leader's short-term martial law declaration. accused.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) said Thursday that it asked prosecutors to file the charges after finding that Yoon had suspended a civil regulation with “the intent the authority of the state to prohibit or interfere with the constitutional order”.
After the CIO transfers the case, the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office will have 11 days to decide whether to charge Yoon and send him to trial.
Yoon, who has been suspended from his duties since the December 14 impeachment vote by the National Assembly, was arrested at his residence in Seoul last week after refusing several summonses to appear for to question
His arrest marked the first time in South Korea's history that a sitting president had been arrested.
Yoon's lawyers have argued that the CIO, which was established in 2021 under Moon's predecessor Moon Jae-in, does not have the authority to investigate the president for impeachment. and that his arrest was illegal.
Under South Korean law, treason is one of the few crimes for which the president does not have immunity.
The crime is punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty, although there has long been a moratorium on executions in the East Asian country.
The Constitutional Court is considering the fate of Yoon individually, who has 180 days to decide whether to stick to his presidency or strip him of his presidential authority back
In his first appearance before the nine-member court on Tuesday, Yoon denied ordering soldiers to forcefully remove lawmakers from the National Assembly so they could not vote to reverse his brief martial law order.
Yoon told the court that lawmakers could have gathered elsewhere to overturn his Dec. 3 order, which he rescinded within hours after a unanimous vote by the National Assembly.
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok has served as the country's acting president since December 27, when lawmakers impeached Yoon's first deputy, Han Duck-soo. , for refusing to fill three vacancies in the Constitutional Court immediately.
