The court late Thursday night dismissed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s request challenging the detention, effectively maintaining him under custody for an investigation into insurrection charges.

The decision by the Seoul Central District Court was made after two hours of deliberation since 5 p.m. for which Yoon’s legal representatives took issue with the legality of the probe led by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. They had argued the warrant to detain him was issued by the Seoul Western District Court, which they said makes it invalid due to jurisdictional issues.

With the court’s decision, the CIO is expected to seek formal arrest of Yoon on Friday.

President Yoon Suk Yeol and investigators have been engaging in a tense standoff since he was taken into custody on Wednesday, as the president refused to speak or attend interrogations until Thursday citing health issues. Yoon’s legal team took a step further on Thursday by requesting the court to review the legality of Yoon’s detention.

After refusing to cooperate with questioning in the morning, the president’s legal team notified investigators that the president would not attend in the afternoon either. South Korea’s sitting president had spent the night at the Seoul Detention Center after hours of questioning on the first day, during which he remained silent.

The court convened a hearing at 5 p.m. to review Yoon’s request concerning the legality of his detention.

The 48-hour deadline for holding the president in custody for interrogation was automatically extended as the court reviewed documents and evidence submitted by the CIO to justify his detention. Yoon was due to be released Friday morning unless the CIO filed for another warrant to keep him longer.

“The Seoul Central District Court requested us to send the records for the court review. When the court registers our files, the time for the investigation will be put on hold until the records are returned to us after the ruling,” the CIO official had said.

President Yoon’s request for a detention review also delayed by several hours the CIO’s decision on whether to file for another formal warrant to hold him for eight more days. If the formal warrant is issued, the CIO is likely to transfer the case to the prosecution, which holds the authority to indict the suspect.

“The CIO and the prosecution agreed to spend 10 days each for investigations, but the schedule can be adjusted according to the changing situation,” the CIO official said.

Article 31 of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials Act dictates that cases pursued by the agency are first under the jurisdiction of the Seoul Central District Court. However, the CIO may institute prosecution with the competent court under the Criminal Procedure Act, considering the site where the corruption is suspected to have occurred, the location of evidence and the circumstances of the defendant.

Seok Dong-hyeon, one of Yoon’s legal representatives, has insisted that the CIO has no legal authority to investigate Yoon’s insurrection charge.

The Seoul Western District Court had rejected a previous appeal from Yoon’s legal team’s on Jan. 6, explaining that while the suspect can request a court review to challenge the validity of the arrest, he cannot argue the legality of the warrant.

The court stressed that both the presidential office and the presidential residence are located in an area under the jurisdiction of the Seoul Western District Court, meaning the warrant does not violate Article 31 of the CIO Act.

It also said the CIO filed the warrant to investigate Yoon on suspicion of abuse of power, which is defined as a form of corruption to be investigated by the agency. The court said the inclusion of the insurrection charge in the warrant, which is closely related to the charge of abuse of power, does not make the warrant invalid or illegal.

Asia News Network/The Korea Herald