Visitor ban for South Korea’s Yoon to be lifted, lawyers expected to seek bail

SEOUL – A ban on visitors for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was to be lifted on Jan 31, allowing the sitting President, who

remains in pretrial detention

while indicted over allegations linked to the martial law crisis, to receive visitors other than his lawyers.

Right-wing politicians seek to take advantage of the eased restrictions to rally support for the conservative President.

Presidential officials, including Mr Yoon’s chief of staff Chung Jin-suk and Mr Chung’s predecessor Kim Dae-ki, who served in the same role for Mr Yoon between 2023 and 2024, are reportedly mulling over a visit as soon as Jan 31, after the Lunar New Year, or Seollal, holiday.

The presidential office declined to comment when asked about plans for them to visit the detention centre.

Representative Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of Mr Yoon’s ruling People Power Party, was also among the lawmakers expected to visit the Seoul Detention Centre after the Seollal holiday.

Mr Kweon, who has sought to position himself close to Mr Yoon, told reporters in a press conference at the National Assembly on Jan 30 that it was only right for him to visit as the President was going through tough times.

“I believe personal relationships come before politics. Before considering political advantages or disadvantages, I need to do what’s right as a human being. I do not have any specific plan, and even if I make my visit, I plan to do it quietly,” Mr Kweon said.

Representative Yoon Sang-hyun of the ruling party told reporters on Jan 28 that he and other lawmakers wished to meet and encourage the President. The five-term lawmaker said he plans to visit the detention centre next week.

Mr Yoon is allowed to meet visitors once a day.

This came as the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which led a joint investigation with the police and the military into

Mr Yoon’s martial law declaration,

requested that the Seoul Detention Centre lift Mr Yoon’s visitation ban after the investigative body transferred his case to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on Jan 23.

The CIO, which banned Mr Yoon from receiving visitors other than his legal representatives, citing concerns about destruction of evidence, said it was now the task of prosecutors to take appropriate measures against him.

The measure was in effect for a week, prohibiting people close to Mr Yoon, including First Lady Kim Keon Hee, from visiting her husband.

Although the visitor restriction was lifted last week, inmates at the prison cannot have visitors on weekends or national holidays, which means Mr Yoon would be able to meet associates only after the Lunar New Year holiday on Jan 31.

Meanwhile, his legal representatives are expected to request bail.

If the court does not approve bail, Mr Yoon could be held at the detention centre for up to six months.

Prosecutors indicted the President on Jan 26 on charges of insurrection, cutting short their investigation after the Seoul Central District Court dismissed two consecutive requests from the prosecution on Jan 24 and 25 seeking to extend the warrant to continue gathering evidence.

The court ruled that an extension was neither necessary nor justifiable given that the prosecution is not an investigative authority. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK