South Korea court approves arrest of Yoon

SEOUL — A South Korean court gave authorities approval on Tuesday to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol for imposing martial law, marking the first time that a sitting president has faced arrest in a country reeling from its deadliest air crash in recent years.

The country saw another accident the same day in which a car drove into a crowd in a Seoul market, leaving at least 13 people injured. The driver, in his 70s, was under police investigation, Yonhap reported.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, or CIO, confirmed the Seoul Western District Court approved an arrest warrant requested by investigators examining Yoon's short-lived imposition of martial law.

In a New Year's address on Tuesday, Acting President Choi Sang-mok called for national harmony and unity, and for trust in the government.

Choi, the country's finance minister, became acting leader on Friday night after the impeachment of prime minister Han Duck-soo, who had been the acting president after Yoon was impeached and suspended from power on Dec 14 following his attempt to impose martial law on Dec 3.

Also on Tuesday, Choi approved the appointment of two of the three constitutional court justices who will fill vacancies on the nine-member bench for Yoon's impeachment trial.

However, Choi vetoed bills to appoint independent counsels and investigate Yoon's rebellion charge and scandals involving his wife that were passed in the opposition-controlled National Assembly on Dec 12.

On Dec 26, the country's parliament voted for the appointment of three justices, two of whom were nominated by the main opposition Democratic Party, while one was nominated by the ruling People Power Party.

The current arrest warrant is viable until Jan 6, and gives investigators only 48 hours to keep Yoon in custody after he is arrested. Investigators must then decide whether to request a detention warrant or release him.

Once the warrant is exercised, Yoon is expected to be held at the Seoul Detention Center, Yonhap news agency said, citing the CIO.

Yoon Kab-keun, a lawyer for the impeached president, said the arrest warrant was illegal and invalid because the CIO did not have the authority under the South Korean law to request a warrant.

He said the president's legal team will file for an injunction at the Constitutional Court to stop the warrant.

It was unclear when or how the arrest warrant for Yoon will be carried out. South Korea's Presidential Security Service said in a statement on Tuesday that it will treat the arrest warrant according to due process.

The court also approved a search warrant for Yoon's residence, the CIO said.

Air crash under probe

As the political turmoil deepens, the authorities said on Tuesday they were investigating the role of a concrete barrier at the end of Muan airport runway in the country's worst air disaster, which killed 179 people as a Jeju Air jet crashed on landing.

Choi has said the accident was a "turning point" for the country, calling for a full overhaul of air safety systems.

Officials initially pointed to a bird strike as a possible cause, but experts have also flagged the barrier, with a video showing the Boeing 737-800 bursting into flames as it collides with it.

The Transport Ministry said authorities were looking at maintenance and operation records during five days of safety checks that are to run until Friday.

The ministry said a delegation of eight US investigators — one from the Federal Aviation Administration, three from the National Transportation Safety Board and four from Boeing — made an on-site visit to the crash site on Tuesday.

The flight data recorder recovered from the crash site was missing a key connector and authorities were reviewing how to extract its data, the Transport Ministry said, adding the retrieval of data from the cockpit voice recorder has begun.

Inspections of all 101 B737-800s operated by South Korean airlines were set to wrap up by Jan 3, though the airport would remain closed until Jan 7, it added in a statement.

Agencies Via Xinhua