Martial law imposed last week, the first in more than 40 years, lasted only about six hours but has triggered a domestic firestorm and large street protests. Yoon and his associates face criminal investigations and impeachment attempts.
The Justice Ministry has banned Yoon and eight others from leaving the country as authorities see them as key suspects in the martial law case. It's the first time that a sitting president in South Korea has received a travel ban.
The Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday said it will review a request from prosecutors for a warrant to arrest former defence minister Kim Yong Hyun, who has been accused of recommending martial law to Yoon and sending troops to the National Assembly to block lawmakers from voting on it.
Enough lawmakers eventually managed to enter a parliament chamber and unanimously rejected Yoon's decree, forcing the Cabinet to lift it before daybreak on December 4.
South Korean prosecutors seek to arrest former defence minister Kim Yong Hyun. (AP PHOTO)
Kim said in a statement on Tuesday that he "deeply apologises for causing significant anxiety and inconvenience". He said all responsibility for the imposition of martial law rests solely with him and pleaded for leniency for soldiers deployed to enforce it, saying they were only following his order.
Kim has been detained since Sunday. If an arrest warrant is issued, he would be the first person arrested in the case. Prosecutors would have up to 20 days to investigate Kim and determine whether to indict him. A conviction on the charge of rebellion would carry up to the death penalty.
Prosecutors reportedly accuse Kim of playing a key role in a rebellion and committing abuse of power by staging a riot to disrupt the constitution in collaboration with Yoon and other military and police officers. Prosecutors' offices in Seoul could not immediately confirm the reports.
Opposition parties and many experts say the martial law decree was unconstitutional. They say a president is by law allowed to declare martial law only during "wartime, war-like situations or other comparable national emergency states" and South Korea wasn't in such a situation.
In his martial law announcement, the conservative Yoon stressed a need to rebuild the country by eliminating "shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces" in a reference to his liberal rivals who control parliament.
Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has been on a near-constant collision course with the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which has introduced motions seeking to impeach some of his top officials and launched a fierce political offensive against Yoon over a spate of scandals involving him and his wife.
