SKorea prosecutors renew request for longer detention for impeached leader

Yoon was arrested in a dawn raid last week on insurrection charges, becoming the first sitting South Korean head of state to be detained in a criminal probe.

His martial law decree only lasted about six hours before it was voted down by lawmakers, who forced their way into parliament, but it still managed to plunge South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.

A court issued a warrant for his arrest last week, saying there was a risk he would destroy evidence, but investigators have said that original document expires on Tuesday.

Late Friday, the Seoul Central District Court turned down a request by investigators to extend his detention until February 6, saying it was "difficult to find sufficient grounds", prosecutors said in a statement.

Just hours later, prosecutors filed a new request, Yonhap reported.

They must now decide whether to charge him with "leading an insurrection and abuse of power", as recommended by the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which has handed the case over to them.

Yoon remains in a detention centre in Seoul.

The CIO accused Yoon of conspiring with his former defence minister and other military commanders to "disrupt the constitutional order".

Experts say Friday's ruling means prosecutors will have to move quickly to indict Yoon in order to keep him in detention.

"The judge appears to have determined that there is no justification for further investigation of Yoon and that the prosecution must decide whether to bring charges," Yoo Jung-hoon, an attorney and political commentator, told AFP.

Yoon has refused to cooperate with the criminal probe into his martial law declaration, with his legal defence team arguing that the investigators lack legal authority.

The suspended president is also facing a separate hearing in the Constitutional Court which, if it upholds his impeachment, would officially remove him from office.

An election would also have to be held within 60 days.

Yoon remains South Korea's head of state despite his detention.