A court in South Korea has approved an arrest warrant for the country's suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, who was ousted following the imposition of martial law earlier this month.

According to ReutersAccording to the report, which cites information from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), the former leader is accused of abusing his authority and orchestrating a rebellion.

The decision to declare martial law on December 3rd plunged Asia's fourth largest economy into its worst political crisis in decades. Yoon was forced to lift the order just six hours later, after MPs rejected the imposition in parliament.

The former president's lawyer, Yoon Kab-keun, called the issuance of the arrest warrant "illegal and invalid" at a press conference on Tuesday (31), according to international agencies. "It's a warrant request from an agency that is clearly not authorized by law and the warrant request process was not transparent," Yoon said, referring to the CIO.

Normally, an arrest warrant should be executed within seven days, but it can be extended, according to the office. The authorities had already tried unsuccessfully to raid the presidential office as part of the investigation due to blockades by the president's security team.

It's the first time a sitting South Korean president has faced an arrest warrant, and it comes on the same day that extraordinary new details become known about the night Yoon tried to shut down Parliament.

According to CNN, Yoon ordered troops into the South Korean parliament as lawmakers tried to block the martial law order through a parliamentary vote. When the soldiers tried to enter the main hall of the National Assembly, lawmakers erected barricades with chairs and other furniture to prevent them from entering.

(Photo DR)