Prosecution requests extension of Yoon's detention period until Feb. 6

Thank you for joining us. I'm Yoon Jung-min.

We start with the prosecution's probe into allegations of insurrection by the president in light of his short-lived martial law on the night of December third.

For details, I have our Choi Min-jung standing by live at the Prosecutors' Office here in Seoul.

Min-jung , prosecutors are seeking to further extend the president's detention.

Jung-min, the prosecution does not have much time, with a detention deadline approaching, as early as the 26th of January.

And because of the tight schedule,. we just learned just a few hours ago, that the investigation team had already requested with the Seoul Central District Court yesterday. an extension of President Yoon's detention until February sixth.

If approved, that would allow more time for the prosecutors to investigate.

Under such a plan, the prosecution is expected to make every effort to interrogate President Yoon.

They also plan to continue the investigation throughout the weekend, and even during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

Considering past cases of former presidents who were detained, prosecutors will likely visit President Yoon at the Seoul Detention Center for questioning, rather than summoning him to the prosecution office, due to security and confidentiality concerns.

Previously, when former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo, Park Geun-hye, and Lee Myung-bak were detained, the prosecution conducted their investigations at the prison.

The prosecution is reportedly only willing to question Yoon in person, given the gravity of the case.

And what been the response from his defense team thus far?

Right, the question is whether Yoon will respond to the prosecution's investigation.

But given his team's latest response, they appear unlikely to cooperate.

Around an hour ago, Yoon's legal team released a statement, criticizing the prosecution's handling of the situation.

It argued that the prosecution should cancel the President's detention and wait for the impeachment trial to proceed.

The statement stressed that keeping the President in detention could interfere with the impeachment process.

The team also stated that the prosecution should disregard the illegal investigation conducted by the CIO and start a fresh investigation.

Hours ago, Yoon's lawyers, Yun Gap-geun and Kim Hong-il, briefly stopped by, and told reporters that they came to convey their thoughts to the prosecution.

Though exact details were not revealed, they may have discussed scheduling coordination with the investigators.

But, just to give you a brief background, the prosecution's special investigation team took the case back yesterday, after the anti-corruption agency formally requested that the prosecution take over the investigation.

The case was handed over earlier than planned due to President Yoon's refusal to cooperate with the CIO.

That's all I have for now.

Back to you, Jung-min.

All right Min-jung thank you for the latest.