A South Korean court on Friday rejected a request by the prosecutors' office to extend the detention of President Yoon Suk Yeol, the Yonhap news agency said.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been detained after a massive law enforcement operation at the presidential compound that ended a weeks-long stand-off between his bodyguards and the country’s anti-corruption agency.

He has been incarcerated for the past week, while investigators probe his botched attempt to impose martial law in early December.