South Korea's court grants extension of warrant to arrest President Yoon

South Korea's court on Tuesday granted the extension of the warrant to arrest the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol, which was issued by the same court on Dec. 31 last year.

The joint investigation unit, composed of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), the National Office of Investigation (NOI) and the defense ministry's investigative headquarters, said in a notice that the warrant to arrest Yoon was issued again in the afternoon.

The unit requested the Seoul Western District Court to re-issue an arrest warrant against Yoon on Monday when the first warrant expired after failing to arrest Yoon last Friday.

It marked the first time in the Asian country's modern history that an arrest warrant was issued against a sitting president.

The validity term of the second warrant could reportedly be longer than the first one which was valid for a week.

The CIO investigators and police officers attempted to arrest the impeached president in the presidential residence on Jan. 3, but it failed as the presidential security service blocked the execution of the warrant.

The impeachment motion against Yoon was passed in the National Assembly on Dec. 14 last year and was delivered to the constitutional court to deliberate about 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agencies as a suspected ringleader on an insurrection charge, declared martial law on the night of Dec. 3, but it was revoked by the National Assembly hours later.

South Korea's court grants extension of warrant to arrest President Yoon

South Korea's court grants extension of warrant to arrest President Yoon

South Korea's court grants extension of warrant to arrest President Yoon

South Korea's court grants extension of warrant to arrest President Yoon

South Korea's court grants extension of warrant to arrest President Yoon

Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy Hao Mingjin on Tuesday attended the inauguration of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama in Accra, the capital of Ghana.

After the inauguration, Mahama met with Hao, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, on bilateral ties.

During the meeting, Hao conveyed Xi's warm congratulations and best wishes to Mahama. He said that China deeply values its traditional friendship with Ghana and remains committed to fostering China-Ghana relations from a strategic and long-term perspective.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. China is ready to take this opportunity to enhance communication with Ghana within the frameworks of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, aiming to elevate the China-Ghana strategic partnership to new heights, Hao said.

Mahama asked the Chinese envoy to convey his greetings and respect to Xi and extended his sincere gratitude to the Chinese president for dispatching a special envoy to attend his inauguration. He highly praised the achievements in Ghana-China relations and reaffirmed his government's commitment to strengthening pragmatic cooperation with China in various fields to further advance bilateral ties.

Xi's special envoy attends inauguration of Ghanaian president