South Korea. Lawyers Deny Escape Of Deposed President

Lawyers for South Korea's ousted president today denied that Yoon Suk-yeol is on the run, as alleged by the opposition.

The legal team's statements come as authorities prepare a second operation to try to arrest Yoon after the execution of a first arrest warrant failed on Friday due to a security lockdown at the presidential residence.

Lawyers met with Yoon at his residence on Tuesday night, the legal team for the ousted president, who is being investigated for declaring martial law on Dec. 3, told a news conference.

One of the lawyers, Yun Gap-keun, insisted that Yoon's defense continues to refuse to accept an investigation based on what he again called an invalid and illegal arrest warrant against the leader, who was ousted by the National Assembly on Dec. 14.

"What is clear is that if the Corruption Investigation Bureau [CIO] requests the [arrest] warrant from a Seoul Western District court, which is outside its jurisdiction, we cannot accept it," Yun said, stressing that the power to judge Yoon's alleged insurrection lies with the Seoul Central District Courts, the country's top courts.

Yun made the remarks after the CIO was granted an extension on Tuesday to execute an arrest warrant issued by a court in the western part of the South Korean capital.

The deposed president's lawyers also insisted that the investigation into the alleged crime of insurrection is not the responsibility of the CIO, but of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

The differences between the anti-corruption bureau and the prosecutor's office date back to Yoon Suk-yeol's time as attorney general.

The CIO was created by the previous Liberal government in 2021 to limit the powers of the Public Prosecutor's Office in investigating senior public officials, after an investigation into Yoon led to the resignation of the then justice minister.

The successor in office then created the CIO, which, in turn, forced the resignation of the deposed current president.

Three months later, Yoon ran for the conservatives (People Power Party, PPP) in the 2022 election, leading to the current scenario, marked by deep resentment between the agencies and the two main political parties, the PPP and the Democratic Party.