SEOUL - A South Korean court issued a warrant to arrest former president Yoon Suk-yeol to forcibly bring him in for questioning over allegations of election meddling, a special counsel team said Thursday.

The warrant, which was issued by the Seoul Central District Court, had been requested by a team of independent counsel Min Joong-ki leading an investigation into corruption allegations that involve Yoon's wife, Kim Keon-hee.

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Yoon, who has been detained on insurrection charges following his short-lived martial law imposition last December, defied twice the special counsel's summons to appear for questioning.

An assistant special counsel and a prosecutor were forecast to be sent to the Seoul Detention Center, where Yoon has been kept in custody, according to multiple media outlets.

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The ousted leader and his wife were suspected of receiving free opinion polls from self-proclaimed political broker Myung Tae-kyun ahead of the 2022 presidential election in exchange for the illegal nomination of a former People Power Party lawmaker in a parliamentary by-election later that year.

Yoon was also suspected of making false statements during the 2021 presidential primaries about his wife's alleged involvement in a stock price manipulation that constitutes an election law violation.