Yoon’s lawyer says impeached president will stand trial if indicted or arrest warrant issued

A lawyer for President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday the impeached president is prepared to stand trial if he is indicted or an arrest warrant is issued, a day after a court granted an extension of a warrant to detain Yoon over his short-lived imposition of martial law.

The remarks by one of Yoon’s legal representatives, Yun Gap-keun, came as the impeached president is facing a second attempt at being detained, after last week’s first attempt failed due to an hourslong standoff between investigators and members of the presidential security service.

The lawyer also said the impeached president will accept due procedures if the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) requests a warrant to arrest Yoon and a court approves the warrant.

However, Yun stressed that the legal defense team of Yoon still refuses to comply with an investigation based on what it labeled as an “invalid” warrant to detain the impeached president.

“What’s clear is that if the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials files (the warrant) to the Seoul Western District Court, which is outside the jurisdiction, we cannot accept it,” Yun said, stressing that the jurisdiction over charges against Yoon lies with the Seoul Central District Court.

The CIO handling Yoon’s martial law case attempted to execute the warrants to detain him and search the presidential residence last Friday, but it withdrew its officials from the site after a six-hour standoff with the Presidential Security Service blocking the entry.

The Seoul Western District Court granted the extension requested by CIO investigators after the initial warrant expired Monday.

The legal team also dismissed speculations Yoon had fled the presidential residence, saying his lawyers met him last night.