”First in history” departure ban imposed on sitting president in South Korea

The departure of South Korean President Yoon Seok-youl, who is currently under investigation for charges of sedition and abuse of power in connection with the December 3 emergency martial law, has been banned.
As the Criminal Investigation Agency is vying for control of the investigation, there are growing views that a direct investigation, including summons and arrest of President Yoon, may be imminent.
According to the legal community on the 9th, the Ministry of Justice issued a notice to President Yoon Seok-youl at around 3:30 pm on the same day.
The president was barred from leaving the country. This is the first time in South Korea's constitutional history that a sitting president has been barred from leaving the country. The measure was implemented after the Agency for Investigation of Crimes by High-Ranking Public Officials requested that the president be barred from leaving the country.
Previously, the prosecution, police and the Office for Investigation of Crimes against High-Ranking Public Officials each requested a departure ban on former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang Min, but the request to ban the president's departure was submitted by the Office for Investigation of Crimes against High-Ranking Public Officials.
The day before, the Office for Investigation into Crimes against High-Ranking Public Officials raised concerns about overlapping investigations and asked the prosecutors and police to transfer the case.
Oh Dong-Woon, director of the Crimes Against High-Ranking Public Officials Investigation Agency, said at a plenary session of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the same day,
The prosecution's special martial law investigation headquarters has also indicted President Yoon as a suspect and is accelerating its investigation.
The prosecution, which had secured the custody of key figures in the civil unrest, including former Defense Minister Kim Young-hyun on the 2nd, also conducted a surprise raid on the National Defense Intelligence Command on the same day, arresting former counterintelligence commander Yeo In-hyun.
In addition, the government has launched a compulsory investigation into the martial law-related personnel of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Vice Chief of Staff Jung Jin-pal (Lieutenant General), 1st Airborne Brigade Commander Lee Sang-hee-yeon (Brigadier General), and former Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jeong-geun.
The Seoul Supreme Prosecutors' Office chief Park Se-hyeon, head of the special investigation headquarters, said the previous day, "We will conduct a strict investigation in accordance with the law and principles, regardless of rank.
The special police investigation team has also decided to directly investigate President Yoon and is accelerating its investigation.
The head of the investigation team (Chief of the National Investigation Agency) said on the same day that it is possible to make an emergency arrest of President Yoon, "if the conditions are right," suggesting a forced investigation. The police have notified former Minister Lee Sang Min to appear,
The date for the summons is being adjusted. With three investigative agencies competing for the lead in the investigation, it is expected that a direct investigation of President Yoon will be carried out as early as this week.