CIO to seek arrest of Yoon if conditions are met: chief
Oh Dong-woon, right, chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, responds to lawmakers' questions during a parliamentary legislation committee meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Dec. 11. Yonhap
The head of the anti-corruption investigation body said Wednesday the office will seek to detain or arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol if conditions are met, as law enforcement agencies close in on him in their probe into the botched martial law imposition.
"If the situation allows, we will attempt to make an emergency arrest or an arrest based on a court warrant," Oh Dong-woon, the chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), said in a parliamentary legislation committee meeting in response to a lawmaker's query.
"We will take every measure that we can," Oh said.
When pressed by a lawmaker on whether he has the "will" to arrest Yoon, he said, "Regarding that, I have plenty of will.
"We are conducting a thorough investigation, and we will review the question of arrest," Oh added, saying there are procedures to follow first.
Multiple probes by law enforcement agencies are under way as they hone in on Yoon as the potential "mastermind" behind last week's failed martial law declaration.
Yoon has been booked as a suspect and barred from traveling overseas.
Under the law, a president is immune from prosecution while in office, except in cases of insurrection. (Yonhap)