SEOUL: Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was released from detention on Saturday after a court voided his arrest on procedural grounds but he remains under investigation over his declaration of martial law.

The suspended president, who was detained in a dawn raid in January on insurrection charges over his De c 3 attempt to subvert civilian rule, walked out of the detention centre smiling, before bowing deeply before a small crowd of cheering supporters.

`I bow my head in gratitude to the people of this nation,` Yoon said in a statement released through his lawyers.

A day earlier, a court had cancelled his arrest warrant on technical and legal grounds a decision that prosecutors probing Yoon said in a statement was `unjust`.

Yoon was freed after the prosecutors waived their right to appeal the court verdict, which was specifically about technical details of his detention on criminal charges.

Yoon also faces a separate Constitutional Court ruling on whether to uphold his impeachment and formally strip him from office, with the judges` decision expected any day.

Prosecutors said that `given the Constitutional Court`s ruling and related considerations, the Prosecutor General has instructed the team to actively present its arguments before the trial court instead,` of appealing Yoon`s release from detention.

South Korea must hold a fresh presidential election within 60 days if Yoon is removed. The criminal case against him will continue even if he is formally stripped of office.

Yoon`s lawyers, who had filed a request to cancel his arrest last month arguing his detention was unlawful because the prosecution waited too long to indict him, hailed his release.

`The president`s release signifies the restoration of the rule of law,` his legal team said in a statement.-AFP