SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's joint investigation unit, including the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), on Friday sought a separate warrant to detain arrested President Yoon Suk-yeol for up to 20 days.
The unit, composed of the CIO, the National Office of Investigation (NOI) and the defense ministry's investigative agency, said in a short notice that it requested the warrant to the Seoul Western District Court.
Yoon refused to testify during most of the interrogation that lasted for almost 11 hours in the CIO office on Wednesday when he was arrested in the presidential office and became the country's first sitting president to be arrested.
On Thursday, the impeached leader refused to appear at the CIO office in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, for further questioning. He has been kept in custody at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, just 5 km away from the office.
Yoon rejected the CIO's repeated call to appear for questioning on Friday morning again.
If the warrant is issued, Yoon's detention would be extended to up to 20 days including the arrest period.
An impeachment motion against Yoon was passed by the National Assembly on Dec. 14 last year and delivered to the constitutional court to deliberate it for up to 180 days, during which Yoon's presidential power is suspended.
Yoon, who was named by investigative agencies as a suspected ringleader on an insurrection charge, declared a martial law on the night of Dec. 3 but it was revoked by the National Assembly hours later. ■
