Yoon Suk-Yeol's lawyers have demanded that Yoon be released, as they believe that the arrest of the former president was based on an invalid arrest warrant.
A district court in Seoul has rejected the lawyers' request. Investigators from the anti-corruption agency CIO believe they can detain Yoon on Thursday or Friday.
According to South Korean law, a detained person must be released within 48 hours if they are not arrested, which Yoon has not. However, the deadline has been frozen while the court considers the lawyers' request.
The deposed president has, according to his lawyers, been questioned for ten hours, but refuses to say anything more. He is exercising his right to remain silent, which he referred to already when he was arrested on Wednesday.
The arrest took place after a several-hour-long police operation at the presidential residence in Seoul, where Yoon had been staying since he was stripped of presidential power on December 14.
The 64-year-old former prosecutor Yoon is being investigated along with several other high-ranking politicians and officials for attempting to stage a rebellion, a charge that can result in the death penalty.
Nearly 1,000 police officers and investigators from the anti-corruption agency CIO were present at the residence during the arrest, but they initially did not get further than the gates. There was some turmoil when loyal supporters of Yoon, who had gathered outside, tried to prevent the police and investigators from approaching.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol introduced a state of emergency on the evening of December 3 to protect the country from "communist forces". This was done with reference to the opposition having completely paralyzed the government's work.
The night of December 4, the parliament voted to repeal the war laws and the state of emergency was declared invalid.
Yoon Suk-Yeol was stripped of presidential power on December 14, when the parliament voted to put him on trial.
In addition to the impeachment process in the Constitutional Court, the anti-corruption unit and the police are conducting a joint criminal investigation against Yoon.
Yoon has been suspended from his duties pending further notice. Between December 14 and January 15, he stayed in the presidential residence, where he refused to be arrested.
An attempt to arrest the former president on January 3 was stopped by security guards who physically blocked the police.
