South Korean anti-corruption agency receives new court warrant to detain impeached President Yoon

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s anti-corruption agency says it has received a new court warrant to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol after its previous attempt was blocked by the presidential security service last week.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials on Tuesday did not immediately confirm how long the warrant would remain valid. The agency’s chief prosecutor, Oh Dong-woon, refused to answer when asked by lawmakers when the warrant would expire, saying such information is sensitive as the agency and police contemplate ways to execute the warrant. Warrants typically last seven to 10 days.

The Seoul Western District Court last week had initially issued a warrant to detain Yoon and a separate warrant to search his residence after he defied authorities by refusing to appear for questioning over his Dec. 3 martial law decree.

About 150 anti-corruption agency investigators and assisting police officers attempted to detain Yoon on Friday but retreated from his residence in Seoul after a tense standoff with the presidential security service that lasted more than five hours. The investigators did not make another attempt to detain Yoon before the previous court warrants expired on Monday.

The anti-corruption agency and police have pledged to make a more forceful effort to detain Yoon, which could be a complicated process as long as he remains in his official residence.

The anti-corruption agency, which is leading a joint investigation with police and the military, has been weighing charges of rebellion after Yoon declared martial law and dispatched troops to surround parliament. Lawmakers who managed to get past the blockade voted to lift martial law hours later.

Yoon’s presidential