Seoul:
South Korean authorities on Wednesday arrested impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over insurrection accusations related to his brief declaration of martial law on December 3, investigators said. He is the first sitting president in South Korea’s history to be arrested.
According to reports, the suspended President was seen leaving his heavily fortified residence in central Seoul in a convoy to the offices of the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) after a joint team of investigators and police said they had executed the arrest warrant.
Mr Yoon had been holed up at his hillside residence for weeks, behind a small army of personal security to avoid arrest. His lawyers have argued attempts to detain the impeached Presidnet were illegal and were designed to publicly humiliate him.
On Wednesday morning, his lawyer announced that the president had agreed to speak to investigators and that he had decided to leave the residence to prevent a “serious incident”.
“President Yoon has decided to personally appear at the Corruption Investigation Office today,” Seok Dong-hyeon said on Facebook, adding that Yoon would also deliver a speech.
More than 3,000 police officers and anti-corruption investigators gathered at his residence before dawn, pushing through throngs of Yoon supporters and members of his ruling People Power Party protesting attempts to detain him.
Shortly after, investigators announced that Mr Yoon had been arrested. “The Joint Investigation Headquarters executed an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol today (January 15) at 10:33 am (0130 GMT),” they said in a statement.
Following his arrest, Yoon can be held for up to 48 hours on the existing warrant. Investigators would need to apply for another arrest warrant to keep him in custody.
It was their second effort to arrest Yoon.
A first attempt on January 3 failed after a tense hours-long standoff with members of Yoon’s official Presidential Security Service (PSS), who refused to budge when investigators tried to execute their warrant.
Mr Yoon’s declaration of martial law last month stunned South Koreans and plunged one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies into an unprecedented period of political turmoil. Lawmakers voted to impeach him and remove him from duties on December 14.
Separately, the Constitutional Court is deliberating over whether to uphold that impeachment and permanently remove him from office. Mr Yoon’s impeachment trial began Tuesday with a brief hearing after he declined to attend.
Although his failure to attend — which his team has blamed on purported safety concerns — forced a procedural adjournment, the hearings will continue without Yoon, with the next set for Thursday.
