Prosecutors investigating a judicial power abuse scandal have requested an arrest warrant for former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae. It is the first such warrant sought against the former head of the nation's highest court.

Investigators at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Friday filed for a warrant to arrest Yang on charges of abusing his power.

Prosecutors said there is sufficient circumstantial evidence showing that Yang ordered interference in trials or received related briefings, and that there is a possibility he may try to destroy evidence or coordinate testimony with other figures involved.

Prosecutors believe the retired veteran justice is involved in most of the allegations in the power abuse scandal. Yang denies the charges.

Yang stands accused of deliberately orchestrating a delay in a lawsuit filed by victims of Japan's wartime forced labor, and using trials as political leverage to gain approval from the presidential office for the establishment of a separate court of appeals.

He is also alleged to have interfered in trials closely monitored by the former Park Geun-hye administration as the rulings could hold great political significance.

Yang is also believed to have played a role in amassing slush funds and drafting a blacklist of judges. He underwent 27 hours of interrogation over three questioning sessions which began last Friday.

The prosecution has also requested for the second time an arrest warrant for former Supreme Court justice Park Byong-dae over similar charges. 

The court is expected to deliberate on the warrant request for Yang and Park sometime next week.