South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday over insurrection accusations related to his December 3 martial law declaration, investigators said.
The Asian country’s anti-corruption agency confirmed impeached Yoon had been detained hours after the hundreds of investigators and police officers arrived at his presidential compound to apprehend him.
A former prosecutor who led the conservative People Power Party to election victory in 2022, Yoon said he relented to avoid “bloodshed.”
“When I saw them break into the security area using firefighting equipment today, I decided to respond to the CIO’s investigation, despite it being an illegal investigation, to prevent unsavory bloodshed,” Yoon said in a statement.
Yoon could face life in jail or even the death penalty if found guilty of insurrection.
Previous attempts to arrest Yoon were thwarted
Yoon had evaded arrest for weeks by remaining in his residential compound, protected by members of the Presidential Security Service (PSS).
Yoon’s guards had installed barbed wire and barricades, turning the residence into what the opposition called a “fortress.”
A first attempt on January 3 failed and earlier on Wednesday, while trying to execute the arrest warrant for impeached Yoon, authorities said they were blocked once again by the president’s guards.
“Investigators are locked in a standoff with presidential the security service after showing search, detention warrants against Yoon,” the agency reported.
Authorities were at the president’s residence to execute an arrest warrant tied to his declaration of martial law in December.
Local news footage showed hundreds of police officers carrying ladders and wire cutters up to his hillside villa.
A witness told Reuters news agency that some minor clashes broke out between his supporters who had gathered there, and the authorities.
Clashes between government agencies lead to tensions
“The execution of the presidential arrest warrant has begun,” acting President Choi Sang-mok said in a statement.
“This situation is a crucial moment for maintaining order and the rule of law in South Korea.”
If arrested, authorities can hold Yoon for up to 48 hours on the current warrant. They would need to apply for another arrest warrant to keep him in custody longer.
Yoon’s lawyers, however, disputed the validity of the current warrant.
Some 6,500 of Yoon’s supporters had gathered outside his official residence. Some ruling party lawmakers formed a human chain in an attempt to prevent Yoon’s arrest, Yonhap reported.
Investigators try a second time to detain Yoon
Presidential guards — who say it is their job to protect the impeached president — had stopped investigators from arresting the South Korean leader earlier this month.
Yoon’s December 3 declaration of martial law as a likely means of attempting to remain in power left him facing arrest, imprisonment and possibly the death penalty.
South Korea entered its worst political crisis in decades after Yoon sent soldiers to storm the parliament.
rm,ss/jsi (Reuters, AP, dpa)
Impeached President Yoon arrested – DW – 01/15/2025
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