ANKARA

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been accused of directing his security detail to display firearms as he resisted investigators’ attempts to detain him in January, Yonhap News reported on Monday.

A 66-page document, filed to the court Sunday by a special counsel investigating Yoon's Dec. 3 martial law imposition, alleges that Yoon issued the orders to senior Presidential Security Service officials on Jan. 11, four days before anti-corruption and police officials apprehended him.

Yoon allegedly ordered his security staff to carry guns because police investigators would be "afraid" of them, according to the document.

The former president's legal team has denied the allegations, stating the warrant to detain him was illegal.

Yoon was officially removed from office in April, following the Constitutional Court’s unanimous ruling that his martial law decree violated the constitution.

He was arrested in January for abuse of power and leading an insurrection, making him the first South Korean president to be kept in custody.

A district court released him in March, allowing him to stand trial without being physically detained.

*Writing by Aamir Latif