A South Korean court issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol and search his office and residence on him a brief declaration of martial law.

The country's anti-corruption agency said it was investigating whether his statement constituted sedition, but experts still said there was little chance of an arrest or search until Yun was formally removed from office.

Seoul's Western District Court issued an arrest warrant for Yoon and a search warrant for the president's office and residence in central Seoul, according to a statement from the High-ranking Officials Corruption Investigation Office, which is conducting a joint investigation with police and military authorities.

Under South Korean law, the leader of the rebellion faces the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted. Yun enjoys presidential immunity from most criminal prosecutions, but the immunity does not extend to charges of rebellion or treason.

Yoon's powers have been suspended since the opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to impeach him on December 14 over his imposition of martial law, which brought hundreds of soldiers and police to the streets of Seoul.

Yun insisted his decree was a legitimate act of governance, calling it a warning to the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which he called a “monster” and “anti-government forces” that used their legislative majority to impeach senior officials. undermines the government's budget and which it says is sympathetic to North Korea.

The Constitutional Court must decide whether to remove Yun from the presidency or reinstate him.

Experts say Yu is likely to ignore warrants.He has ignored repeated requests from investigative agencies to appear for questioning, and the presidential security service has barred him from searching his office and residence. attempts, citing a law that prohibits hacking into websites containing state secrets.

Yun's lawyer rejected the anti-corruption agency's request on Monday, saying it lacked the legal authority to investigate the rebellion allegations.

The anti-corruption agency said it had no immediate plans on how to proceed with the warrants.

“Unless Yun voluntarily allows himself to be detained, there is no chance of arresting him,” said Choi Jin, director of the Seoul-based Presidential Leadership Institute.

Choi said investigators will likely still visit Yoon's residence to show they are doing their job strictly and fairly.

Park Sung-min, president of Seoul-based political consulting firm MIN Consulting, said the issuance of the arrest warrant was likely an attempt to pressure Yun to cooperate with the investigation.

Former President Park Geun-hye, who was ousted in 2017 after being impeached in a corruption scandal, also refused to meet with prosecutors while in office.

Yun's imposition of martial law lasted just six hours but caused a huge political upheaval, bringing high-level diplomacy to a standstill and jolting financial markets. Despite Yun's deployment of troops and police, enough lawmakers were able to enter the chamber to defeat it unanimously.

Yun's defense minister, police chief and several high-ranking military officers have already been arrested for their role in imposing martial law.

Yun insisted he was not trying to stop the assembly, saying the troops were sent to maintain order, and denied any intention to arrest politicians. But comments from the now-arrested commanders of the military units sent to the assembly contradicted this claim Keung testified in the National Assembly that Yoon called on the troops to “quickly knock on the door and pull him out inside Kwak said he did not comply with Yun's orders.

The country's political crisis deepened last Friday when the Democratic Party and other smaller opposition parties voted to impeach incumbent President Han Dak-soo, along with three justice seats on the Constitutional Court. Observers say adding more justices could influence the court's ruling on Yun's impeachment.

Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has become the new interim leader of South Korea.