President Yoon Suk-yeol announcing a state of emergency on December 3, 2024. [Photo=Yonhap News]

President Yoon Suk-yeol, whose detention was set to expire on the 18th, has been ordered to remain in detention for an additional period of up to six months.

According to the special prosecutor's team led by Cho Eun-seok and the court on the 2nd, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 36 (Presiding Judge Lee Jung-yeop) issued an arrest warrant for President Yoon on the same day.

The court cited concerns of evidence tampering in relation to the 'North Korean drone suspicion' as grounds for the additional detention.

Under the Criminal Procedure Act, the initial detention period is a maximum of six months, but if the necessity of detention is recognized, the court may issue an additional warrant after review.

This is the third detention for President Yoon since the state of emergency on December 3, 2024.

He was first detained and indicted by prosecutors on charges of insurrection on January 26 of last year, but was released on March 8 after the court canceled his detention.

Subsequently, President Yoon was re-indicted by the special prosecutor's team on July 19 of last year.

At that time, President Yoon was charged with: △ obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant issued by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials by mobilizing the Presidential Security Service; and △ obstructing the constitutional deliberation rights of other cabinet members by convening only some of them before declaring martial law (charges include obstruction of official duties and abuse of power).

On November 10 of last year, the special prosecutor's team indicted President Yoon, former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, and former Commander of the Defense Counterintelligence Command Yeo In-hyeong on charges of aiding and abetting the enemy, and requested their continued detention.

The justification for this detention is the alleged infiltration of drones into Pyongyang around October 2024 to use military tensions between North and South Korea as a pretext for declaring a state of emergency.

During the detention hearing for President Yoon, which lasted approximately two hours on the 23rd of last month, the special prosecutor's team emphasized the seriousness of the crime and the risk of evidence tampering and flight, while President Yoon's legal team argued that the charge of aiding and abetting the enemy does not hold up legally.

The court held detention hearings for former Minister Kim on the 12th of last month and former Commander Yeo on the 16th, and issued arrest warrants for both individuals on the 24th of the same month.

Reporter Lim Yo-hee