An attempt to secure an arrest warrant for former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has been rejected by a local court.
Yoon is currently facing a criminal trial on a range of charges for declaring martial law in December last year, and then resisting authorities.
He was arrested back in January, but later released on technical grounds after 52 days.
The charges he faces include insurrection, which is punishable by death or life in prison in South Korea.
On Tuesday, the nation's special prosecutor asked the court to issue an additional arrest warrant for Yoon, on a charge of obstruction and accused him of refusing to respond to a summons for questioning.
However, the request was denied by the court but they said they would consider the warrant if Yoon fails to show up for questioning this coming weekend.
His lawyers said the attempted warrant was "based on superficial and secondary matters that invited suspicion the probe was politically driven".
