S. Korea's court dismisses ex-President Yoon's release request

SEOUL -- South Korea's court on Friday dismissed former President Yoon Suk-yeol's release request, keeping the ousted leader in custody amid an ongoing investigation into his short-lived martial law imposition.

The Seoul Central District Court rejected Yoon's call for release from detention after reviewing its legality during a hearing earlier in the day, according to multiple media outlets.

Eight days earlier, the same court issued a warrant to detain Yoon, which was sought by Cho Eun-suk, special counsel leading the investigation into Yoon's insurrection and other charges.

The charges specified in the warrant included obstruction of justice, abuse of power and writing a bogus official document.

The special counsel team, which launched its investigation on June 18, sought a separate warrant to arrest Yoon for up to 48 hours last month, but it was dismissed by the Seoul court.

The detention warrant was sought to keep Yoon in custody for an extended period of time, or at least 20 days.

Yoon was apprehended in the presidential office on Jan 15 and was indicted under detention on Jan 26 as a suspected ringleader of insurrection, but he was released on March 8 as prosecutors decided not to appeal against the court's release approval.

The constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach Yoon on April 4 over his botched martial law bid last December, officially removing him from office.