South Korean investigators seek President Yoon's indictment over martial law bid

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) said it requested that Yoon be charged with leading an insurrection and abuse of power as it transferred the case to the prosecution, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

Yoon, who plunged the nation into its worst political crisis in modern history through his short-lived martial law declaration on Dec. 3, is facing insurrection charges.

He is currently being held at the Seoul Detention Centre while a trial at the Constitutional Court is also under way to determine whether to uphold or dismiss his impeachment by the National Assembly.

The court must decide on the matter within a 180-day period that began on Dec.14, the date the National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon.

If his impeachment is upheld, the disgraced president will be removed from office, triggering a snap election within 60 days. If it is overturned, however, he will be reinstated.