South Korea's impeached president booked over alleged attempt to avoid arrest

ISLAMABAD

South Korean police on Friday said they have booked impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his alleged attempt last month to avoid arrest, according to local media reports.

Yoon is suspected of instructing the Presidential Security Service to block investigators' attempt to detain him over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

Police said they secured text messages Yoon exchanged with Kim Seong-hoon, the security service’s deputy chief, when investigators raided the presidential residence but failed to arrest him.

On Thursday, Constitutional Court acting head Moon Hyung-bae said the final hearing of Yoon's impeachment trial will be head next week. The court may deliver its verdict in mid-March.

Suspended from office since Dec. 14, when parliament voted to impeach him, Yoon’s case is now before the Constitutional Court, which has up to six months to decide whether to remove him from office or to reinstate him.

He has been held at a detention center in Seoul since mid-January after being detained by investigators on insurrection charges.

Yoon was indicted last month on charges of insurrection over his short-lived martial law bid on Dec. 3.