By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean prosecutors will pursue President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conviction for insurrection despite a court decision ordering the release of the impeached leader from prison, the head of the prosecutors’ office said on Monday.
Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung said he respected the weekend court ruling but did not agree with its assessment that the indictment filing was past the legally allowed expiry time, which the court said made Yoon’s detention while on trial illegal.
“I’ve directed that the prosecution makes arguments on various disputes during trial, and we’ll do everything we can to pursue this indictment,” he told reporters when asked whether the court ruling meant it was likely to drop the case.
Yoon has been on criminal trial since February 20 over allegations he led an insurrection by declaring martial law on December 3. He lifted the martial law decree after about six hours.
His lawyers had filed a motion to cancel his detention and said Friday’s ruling showed the case against Yoon was politically motivated and had no legal justification.
The embattled leader walked out of a detention centre on Saturday, about a week short of two months after being arrested.
He was impeached by parliament and remains suspended from power. The Constitutional Court is expected to decide in coming days whether to overturn the impeachment and reinstate him or remove him from office permanently.
If Yoon is removed, a new presidential election will be held within 60 days. Yoon said his martial law declaration was needed to root out “anti-state” elements; parliament rejected it within hours.
The decision by the Seoul Central District Court on Friday to cancel Yoon’s arrest warrant rather than allowing the automatic extension of his detention during his trial drew mixed reactions from the public and political parties.
The prosecution decided not to appeal the ruling based on a conservative reading of Constitutional Court decisions in previous cases rejecting prosecutors’ appeals, Shim said.
Yoon was met by enthusiastic crowds of supporters as he walked out of the detention centre and as he returned to his official residence, where he was arrested on January 15, becoming the first sitting president to be detained and indicted.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Gerry Doyle)
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