South Korean court issues warrants to detain impeached President Yoon and search his office

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court issued warrants Tuesday to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and search his office and residence over allegations of rebellion in connection with his short-lived declaration of martial law.

It's the first time a warrant has been issued to detain a sitting South Korean president. But experts say there is little chance of detention or searches unless Yoon is formally removed from office.

The Seoul Western District Court issued warrants to detain Yoon and to search the presidential office and residence in central Seoul, according to a statement from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military authorities.

The agency says it's been investigating whether Yoon's Dec. 3 declaration amounted to rebellion.

Under South Korean law, the leader of a rebellion can face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted. Yoon has presidential immunity from most criminal prosecutions, but the privilege does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason.

Yoon's powers have been suspended since the opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14 over his imposition of martial law, during which hundreds of troops and police officers were deployed at the assembly. By law, a president in South Korea is allowed to declare martial law only during wartime or similar emergencies and has no right to suspend parliament’s operations even under martial law.

Yoon has argued his decree was a legitimate act of governance, calling it a warning to the main liberal opposition Democratic Party — which he has called “a monster” and “anti-state forces” — that has used its legislative majority to impeach top officials, undermine the government’s budget, and which he claims sympathizes with North Korea.

The Constitutional Court is to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or reinstate him.

Experts said Yoon is likely to ignore the warrants. He's already dodged repeated requests by investigative authorities to appear for questioning, and the presidential security service has blocked attempts to search his office and residence citing a law that bans raids on sites with state secrets.

Yoon Kap-keun, a lawyer for the president, called the detainment warrant “invalid" and “illegal," saying the anti-corruption agency lacks legal authority to investigate rebellion charges. The presidential security service said it will provide security to Yoon in accordance with the law.

The anti-corruption agency said it has no immediate plans on when it would proceed with the warrants.

“Unless Yoon voluntarily lets them detain him, there is no way to detain him,” said Choi Jin, director of the Seoul-based Institute of Presidential Leadership. “Should investigators have hand-to-hand fights with the security service?”

Choi said that investigators were still likely to visit Yoon’s residence to show they are strictly and fairly carrying out their work.

Park Sung-min, president of Seoul-based political consulting firm MIN Consulting, said the push for an arrest warrant is likely an attempt to pressure Yoon to cooperate with investigations.

Former President Park Geun-hye, who was thrown out of office in 2017 following an impeachment over a corruption scandal, also refused to meet with prosecutors while in office. She underwent questioning by them and was arrested after the Constitutional Court removed her from office.

Yoon's imposition of martial law lasted only six hours but triggered huge political turmoil, halting high-level diplomacy and rattling financial markets. Despite Yoon's deployment of troops and police, enough lawmakers managed to enter the assembly chamber to overturn it unanimously.

Yoon's defense minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the martial law enactment.

Yoon has claimed he wasn't trying to stop the functioning of the assembly, saying that the troops were sent to maintain order, and also denied planning to arrest politicians. But comments by now-arrested commanders of military units sent to the assembly have contradicted this claim.

Kwak Jong-keun, the commander of the Army Special Warfare Command, testified at the National Assembly that Yoon called on troops to “quickly knock down the door and drag out the lawmakers who are inside." Kwak said he did not carry out Yoon’s orders.

The country's political crisis deepened last Friday, when the Democratic Party and other small opposition parties voted to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo as well over wrangling over his refusal to fill in three justice seats at the nine-member Constitutional Court. Observers say adding more justices could increase prospects for the court's endorsement of Yoon's impeachment as that requires support from at least six justices.

The deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, has become South Korea’s new interim leader. On Tuesday, Choi appointed two new justices, saying he feels the urgency to resolve political uncertainty and national divide.

Choi's moves drew rebukes from both the ruling and opposition parties. The governing People Power Party accused him of surrendering to the opposition’s political offensive, while the main liberal opposition Democratic Party urged Choi to quickly appoint the remaining ninth justice.

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. The letters read "Oppose Impeachment," and "Arrest Lee Jae-myung." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. The letters read "Oppose Impeachment," and "Arrest Lee Jae-myung." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. The letters read "Oppose Impeachment," and "Arrest Lee Jae-myung." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally after hearing a news that a court issued warrants to detain Yoon, near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. The letters read "Oppose Impeachment." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally after hearing a news that a court issued warrants to detain Yoon, near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

FILE - Members of civic groups shout slogans during a news conference demanding the arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 17, 2024. The letters read "Immediately arrest Yoon Suk Yeol." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

FILE - In this photo released by South Korean President Office via Yonhap, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 14, 2024. (South Korean Presidential Office/Yonhap via AP, File)

U.S. egg prices increased again last month to reach a new record-high of $6.23 per dozen despite President Donald Trump’s predictions, a drop in wholesale prices and no egg farms having bird flu outbreaks.

The increase reported Thursday in the Consumer Price Index means consumers and businesses that rely on eggs might not get much immediate relief. Demand for eggs is typically elevated until after Easter, which falls on April 20.

Industry experts were expecting the index to reflect a drop in retail egg prices because wholesale egg prices dropped significantly in March. University of Arkansas agricultural economist Jada Thompson said the wholesale prices did not start dropping until mid-March, so there may not have been enough time for the average price for the month to decline even though prices started to fall at the end of the month. And grocery stores may not have immediately passed on the lower prices.

Bird flu outbreaks were cited as the major cause of price spikes in January and February after more than 30 million egg-laying chickens were killed to prevent the spread of the disease. Only 2.1 million birds were slaughtered in March and none of them were on egg farms

The farms that had fall outbreaks have been working to resume egg production after sanitizing their barns and raising new flocks, but chickens must be about six months old before they start laying eggs. Thompson said those farms did not come back online as quickly as anticipated. In the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture numbers, there were only about 285 million hens laying eggs nationwide as of March 1, down from 293 million the previous month. Before the outbreak, the flock typically numbered more than 315 million.

Trump tried to take credit for the lower wholesale egg prices the USDA reported in recent weeks. But experts say the president’s plan to fight bird flu by focusing on strengthening egg farmers’ defenses against the virus is likely to be more of a long-term help.

“I think there are lots of people who are looking to see the egg prices coming down because they wanted to call it a win. And I think it’s a loss for everybody. I think we all want to see egg prices come down,” Thompson said.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance both trumpeted the overall decline in inflation last month before most of Trump's tariffs took effect, but they did not directly address egg prices.

Earlier this week, Trump said the annual White House egg roll would use real eggs again this year despite the high prices. Egg farmers typically donate more than 30,000 eggs for the event.

But some consumers are already looking to plastic eggs to color for Easter to avoid the high prices.

U.S. egg prices did began falling in mid-March, according to Datasembly, a market research company that tracks prices at thousands of stores. Datasembly said eggs averaged $5.98 per dozen the week beginning March 16 and dropped to $5.51 the week beginning March 30.

But prices vary widely around the country, depending on the location of recent bird flu outbreaks and some state laws requiring eggs to be cage-free. At a Safeway in downtown San Francisco on Thursday, cage-free eggs were $9.99 per dozen. At a Safeway in Denver, the same cage-free eggs were $6.69 per dozen. And at a Safeway in Washington D.C., which doesn’t require eggs to be cage-free, a dozen eggs were $5.29. In Omaha, Nebraska, Walmart is selling eggs for $4.97 per dozen.

Egg prices are still expected to decline further later this spring, but the latest numbers could also increase scrutiny of Cal-Maine Foods, which provides 20% of the nation’s eggs, and other large egg producers.

Earlier this week, Cal-Maine acknowledged it is being investigated by the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice, which is looking into egg price increases. Cal-Maine said it is cooperating with the investigation.

In its most recent quarter, which ended March 1, Cal-Maine said its net income more than tripled to $508.5 million compared to the same period a year ago. The company said its revenue nearly doubled to $1.42 billion, largely because of higher egg prices.

Since the current bird flu outbreak began, more than 168 million birds have been slaughtered, most of them egg-laying chickens. Any time a bird gets sick, the entire flock is killed to help keep bird flu from spreading. That can have an effect on the egg supply because massive egg farms may have millions of birds.

The disease is difficult to control because it is spread easily through the droppings of wild birds that carry the avian flu virus. Bird flu has also inflected other animals, including dairy cattle.

Egg prices hit $5.90 in February one month after setting a record at $4.95 per dozen, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But shoppers encountered prices much higher than that in some places; in California, the price per dozen topped $12 in some stores.

Earlier in the outbreak, egg prices spiked to hit $4.82 in January 2023 before gradually falling as low as $2.04 per dozen in August 2023. Generally, prices have since increased steadily.

Associated Press writer Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this report.

Eggs are displayed in a grocery store in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Eggs are displayed in a grocery store in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Eggs are displayed in a grocery store in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Eggs are displayed in a grocery store in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Eggs are displayed in a grocery store in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

FILE - Cartons of eggs sit on a shelf in a Walmart store, March 10, 2025, in Englewood, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Eggs are displayed in a grocery store in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

FILE - A carton of eggs sit on a counter in the kitchen inside of 5 Rabanitos restaurant in Chicago, Feb. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)