Wednesday, January 15, 2025 - South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol has been arrested for questioning, according to the country’s anti-corruption agency, in the latest chapter of a weekslong political saga that began with the embattled president’s shock martial law decree last month.
Yoon was arrested for questioning on Wednesday morning, January 15
and left his residential compound with investigators in a motorcade, the
first time such an action has been taken against a sitting president in South
Korea.
Yoon is wanted for questioning in multiple criminal investigations
related to his short-lived declaration, including over accusations of leading
an insurrection, a crime punishable by life imprisonment or even the d3ath
penalty.
As of Wednesday afternoon, South Korean time, Yoon had refused to
answer investigators’ questions or comment, and had refused to allow the
sessions to be recorded, an official with the Corruption Investigation Office
for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) told reporters.
Yoon is expected to be moved from the CIO headquarters to a nearby
detention centre, where he will be held overnight in solitary confinement “due
to safety reasons,” the facility said in a statement.
The embattled president has been in his fortified residence for
weeks surrounded by his Presidential Security Service team, evading arrest as
he faces several probes and an impeachment trial.
The Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is working with
police and the defence ministry to investigate Yoon, first attempted to detain
him earlier this month, but it failed after an hours-long showdown in which
soldiers and members of the presidential security detail blocked some 80 police
and investigators from approaching the presidential compound.
Following his arrest on Wednesday, Yoon released a video message
dismissing the investigations into him as “illegal” and said, “rule of law in
this country has completely collapsed.” He said he cooperated with
investigators to prevent violent clashes.
“As a president who must protect the constitution and legal system of
the Republic of Korea, responding to these illegal and invalid procedures is
not an acknowledgment of them, but in the hopes of preventing unsavory
bloodshed,” he said.
The warrant allows investigators to hold Yoon
for up to 48 hours from the time he was detained, until around 10 a.m. local
time Friday. The CIO would need to apply for an arrest warrant within that
period to detain him further.
Groups of supporters and opponents of Yoon were at the scene during the arrest with videos showing demonstrators pulling up in buses and gathering in the streets around Yoon’s compound, despite the cold weather.
Some demonstrators could be heard chanting
“resign,” “your time is up” and “take responsibility,” while supporters of the
embattled president chanted “invalid impeachment,” “free ROK, hurrah!” and “we
won!”
Yoon declared martial law in a surprise
late-night address on December 3, 2024, claiming opposition lawmakers had
“paralyzed state affairs” and that the move was necessary to “safeguard a
liberal South Korea” from the threats posed by “anti-state elements.”
Members of the National Assembly, including some from Yoon’s own party,
voted to reverse the declaration some six hours later. Yoon’s order faced
fierce backlash from the public and lawmakers across the political spectrum,
reviving painful memories of the country’s authoritarian past.
Yoon’s lawyers have reiterated that the detention warrant is “an
illegal, invalid warrant” and have vowed to take legal action against its
execution. The suspended president’s backers have also insisted that the
actions being taken against him are contrary to South Korean law.
The former prosecutor-turned-politician was stripped of his presidential
powers last month after parliament voted to impeach him over the decree. The
country’s Constitutional Court now has the ultimate say over whether he will be
formally removed or reinstated.
🚨BREAKING: SOUTH KOREA PRESIDENT YOON FINALLY ARRESTED AFTER HOURS LONG STANDOFF AND MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS AT THIS. pic.twitter.com/KlEWdutFIk
— Chaos Alerts (@ChaosAlertsOnX) January 15, 2025
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