ANKARA

South Korea's ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol was detained for a second time Wednesday, Yonhap News reported.

A court granted a warrant due to concerns that Yoon could destroy evidence.

The Seoul Central District Court, earlier in the day, held a seven-hour hearing on whether to issue an arrest warrant for Yoon on charges related to his failed martial law bid and sent him to a detention center to await the warrant after the hearing.

The former president was held at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, just south of the capital.

His detention came after special counsel Cho Eun-suk requested the warrant to arrest Yoon on five key charges.

The charges included Yoon's alleged violation of the rights of Cabinet members by inviting only a few to a meeting before his martial law decree on Dec. 3 and composing a false martial law declaration, and getting it signed by then-Premier Han Duck-soo and defense chief Kim Yong-hyun.

He is also charged for his alleged directive to the presidential spokesperson for foreign media to hand out false statements denying his intention to destroy the constitutional order on Dec. 3, his instruction to the Presidential Security Service to protect him from being detained by investigators in early January, and his order to delete call records from secure phones used by three military commanders.

Yoon had attended the hearing and gave a final statement for about 20 minutes, denying all the charges.

He was first arrested in January while he was still holding the country’s top office; however, was released in March after a court accepted his request to cancel his arrest.

The former president was ousted by the Constitutional Court in April.​​​​​​​