South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives for his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea on January 21, 2025. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

“South Korean prosecutors on Sunday (January 26, 2025) indicted the impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his imposition of martial law last month,” news reports said.

Yonhap news agency reported that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Yoon over rebellion in connection with his December 3 decree that plunged the country into massive political turmoil. Other South Korean media outlets have carried similar reports.

Repeated calls to the prosecutors’ office were unanswered.

Mr. Yoon was earlier impeached and arrested over the martial law decree. The Constitutional Court is separately deliberating whether to formally dismiss Mr. Yoon as President or reinstate him.

Mr. Yoon, a conservative, has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, calling his martial law a legitimate act of governance meant to raise public awareness of the danger of the liberal-controlled National Assembly which obstructed his agenda and impeached top officials.

During his announcement of martial law, Mr. Yoon called the assembly “a den of criminals” and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces”.

Police officers stand guard at the front gate of the Seoul Western District Court in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was formally arrested early on Sunday (January 19, 2025), days after being apprehended at his presidential compound in Seoul. He faces possible imprisonment over his ill-fated declaration of martial law last month.

Mr. Yoon’s arrest could mark the beginning of an extended period in custody, lasting months or more.

The decision to arrest Mr. Yoon triggered unrest at the Seoul Western District Court, where dozens of his supporters destroyed the court’s main door and windows. They used plastic chairs and police shields that they managed to wrestle away from officers. Some got inside the building and were seen throwing objects and using fire extinguishers.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed to suppress the riot at the court. Nearly 90 protesters were arrested onsite, while some injured police officers were seen being treated at ambulance vans. It wasn’t immediately clear whether any court staff were injured.

Following eight hours of deliberation, the court granted law enforcement’s request for an arrest warrant for Mr. Yoon, saying he was a threat to destroy evidence. Mr. Yoon and his lawyers on Saturday appeared before the court and argued for his release.

Mr. Yoon, who has been in detention since he was apprehended Wednesday in a massive law enforcement operation at his residential compound, faces potential rebellion charges linked to his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, which set off the country’s most serious political crisis since its democratization in the late 1980s.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and the military, can now extend Mr. Yoon’s detention to 20 days, during which they will transfer the case to public prosecutors for indictment.

Mr. Yoon’s lawyers could also file a petition to challenge the court’s arrest warrant.

Mr. Yoon’s appearance in court triggered chaotic scenes in nearby streets, where thousands of his fervent supporters rallied for hours calling for his release. Even before the court issued the warrant for Mr. Yoon’s arrest, protesters repeatedly clashed with police who detained dozens of them, including about 20 who climbed over a fence in an attempt to approach the court. At least two vehicles carrying anti-corruption investigators were damaged as they left the court after arguing for Mr. Yoon’s arrest.

Mr. Yoon’s lawyers said he spoke for about 40 minutes to the judge during the nearly five-hour closed-door hearing Saturday. His legal team and anti-corruption agencies presented opposing arguments about whether he should be held in custody.

Mr. Yoon’s Defence Minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested and indicted for their roles in the enforcement of martial law.

The crisis began when Mr. Yoon, in an attempt to break through legislative gridlock, imposed military rule and sent troops to the National Assembly and election offices. The standoff lasted only hours after lawmakers who managed to get through a blockade voted to lift the measure. The opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14.

His political fate now lies with the Constitutional Court, which is deliberating whether to formally remove him from office or reinstate him.

Seok Dong-hyeon, one of Mr. Yoon’s lawyers, called the court’s decision to issue the warrant “the epitome of anti-constitutionalism and anti-rule of law,” maintaining the president’s claim that his martial law decree was a legitimate act of governance. He pointed to the chaos at the Seoul Western Court and said Yoon’s arrest would inspire more anger from his supporters. Mr. Yoon’s People Power Party regretted his arrest but also pleaded for his supporters to refrain from further violence.

The liberal opposition Democratic Party, which drove the legislative effort to impeach Mr. Yoon on Dec. 14, said his arrest would be a “cornerstone for restoring the collapsed constitutional order.”

Mr. Yoon was transported to the court from a detention centre in Uiwang, near Seoul, in a blue Justice Ministry van escorted by police and the presidential security service, to attend the hearing at the court ahead of its warrant decision.

The motorcade entered the court’s basement parking space as thousands of Mr. Yoon’s supporters gathered in nearby streets amid a heavy police presence. Following the hearing, Mr. Yoon was transported back to the detention center, where he awaited the decision. He did not speak to reporters.

After its investigators were attacked by protesters later on Saturday, the anti-corruption agency asked media companies to obscure the faces of its members attending the hearing.

Mr. Yoon and his lawyers have claimed that the martial law declaration was intended as a temporary and “peaceful” warning to the liberal opposition, which he accuses of obstructing his agenda with its legislative majority. Mr. Yoon says the troops sent to the National Election Commission offices were to investigate election fraud allegations, which remains unsubstantiated in South Korea.

Mr. Yoon has stressed he had no intention of stopping the functioning of the legislature. He stated that the troops were sent there to maintain order, not prevent lawmakers from entering and voting to lift martial law. He denied allegations that he ordered the arrests of key politicians and election officials.

Military commanders, however, have described a deliberate attempt to seize the legislature that was thwarted by hundreds of civilians and legislative staff who helped lawmakers enter the assembly, and by the troops’ reluctance or refusal to follow Mr. Yoon’s orders.

If prosecutors indict Mr. Yoon on rebellion and abuse of power charges, which are the allegations now being examined by investigators, they could keep him in custody for up to six months before trial.

If the first court convicts him and issues a prison term, Mr. Yoon would serve that sentence as the case possibly moves up to the Seoul High Court and Supreme Court. Under South Korean law, orchestrating a rebellion is punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty.

Hundreds of South Koreans, bundled up against freezing temperatures and snow, rallied overnight into Sunday (January 5, 2025) near the residence of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, calling for his ouster and arrest, as authorities prepared to renew their efforts to detain him over his short-lived martial law decree.

Dozens of anti-corruption agency investigators and police attempted to execute a detainment warrant against Mr. Yoon on Friday but retreated from his residence in Seoul after a tense standoff with the presidential security service that lasted more than five hours.

The one-week warrant for his detention is valid through Monday. There were no immediate indications that anti-corruption authorities were ready to send investigators back to the residence as of Sunday afternoon. Staff from the presidential security service were seen installing barbed wire near the gate and along the hills leading up to Mr. Yoon’s residence over the weekend, possibly in preparation for another detention attempt.

A Seoul court last Tuesday issued a warrant to detain Mr. Yoon and a separate warrant to search his residence after the embattled President repeatedly defied authorities by refusing to appear for questioning and obstructing searches of his office. But enforcing them is complicated as long as Mr. Yoon remains in his official residence.

Investigators from the country’s anti-corruption agency are weighing charges of rebellion after the conservative President, apparently frustrated that his policies were blocked by a legislature dominated by the liberal opposition, declared martial law on Dec. 3 and dispatched troops to surround the National Assembly.

The Assembly overturned the declaration within hours in a unanimous vote and impeached Mr. Yoon on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion, while South Korean anti-corruption authorities and public prosecutors opened separate investigations into the events.

If the anti-corruption agency manages to detain Mr. Yoon, it will likely ask a court for permission to make a formal arrest. Otherwise, Mr. Yoon will be released after 48 hours.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military investigators, says detaining Mr. Yoon would be “virtually impossible” as long as he is protected by the presidential security service. The agency has urged the country’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, to instruct the service to comply with their execution of the detainment warrant, but Mr. Choi has yet to publicly comment on the issue.

The chiefs and deputy chiefs of the presidential security service defied summonses on Saturday from police, who planned to question them over the suspected obstruction of official duty following Friday’s events.

Mr. Yoon’s legal team said it will file complaints against the anti-corruption agency’s chief prosecutor, Oh Dong-woon, and approximately 150 investigators and police officers involved in Friday’s detention attempt, which they claim was unlawful. The team said it will also file complaints with public prosecutors against the country’s acting Defence Minister and police chief for ignoring the presidential security service’s request to provide additional forces to block the detention attempt.

Mr. Yoon’s lawyers had submitted an objection to the warrants against the president on Thursday, but the Seoul Western District Court dismissed the challenge on Sunday.

Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, called for the anti-corruption agency to move quickly to detain Mr. Yoon, saying it was deeply disappointing to see the agency “hesitating and letting time slip away.”

Hundreds of anti-Yoon protesters rallied for hours near the gates of the presidential residence from Saturday evening to Sunday, voicing frustration over the failed detention attempt and demanding stronger efforts to bring Mr. Yoon into custody. Separated by police barricades and buses, pro-Yoon protesters were gathering in nearby streets, denouncing his impeachment and vowing to block any efforts to detain him.

“With barely a day left before the execution deadline for Yoon Seok Yeol’s detainment warrant, the presidential security service continues to hide a criminal and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials cannot be more relaxed,” Kim Eun-jeong, an activist, said on a stage during the anti-Yoon rally.

“Angry citizens have already spent two freezing nights demanding his immediate detainment. Are their voices not being heard?”

Mr. Yoon’s lawyers have challenged the detention and search warrants against the President, saying they cannot be enforced at his residence due to a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge — which would be Mr. Yoon. They also argue the anti-corruption office lacks the legal authority to investigate rebellion charges and that police officers don’t have the legal authority to assist in detaining Mr. Yoon.

While the presidential security act mandates protection for Mr. Yoon, it does not authorize the presidential security service to block court-ordered detainments. The service’s attempts to block the execution of the warrant may amount to an obstruction of official duty, according to Park Sung-bae, an attorney specializing in criminal law. While the President mostly has immunity from prosecution while in office, the protection does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason.

The agency said its outnumbered investigators had several scuffles with presidential security forces that threatened their safety and expressed “serious regret” that Mr. Yoon was not complying with the legal process.

After getting around a military unit guarding the residence’s grounds, the agency’s investigators and police were able to approach within 200 metres (yards) of Mr. Yoon’s residential building but were stopped by a barricade comprising around 10 vehicles and approximately 200 members of the presidential security forces and troops. The agency said it wasn’t able to visually confirm whether Mr. Yoon was inside the residence.

The Defence Ministry says the troops at Mr. Yoon’s official residence are under the control of the presidential security service. Kim Seon-ho, the acting Defence Minister, conveyed his concern to the presidential security service, saying that deploying military personnel to block the execution of the detention warrant would be “inappropriate” and requesting that the troops aren’t placed in a position where they might confront police, according to the ministry.

Mr. Yoon’s Defence Minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the period of martial law.

Mr. Yoon’s presidential powers have been suspended since the National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14. Mr. Yoon’s fate now lies with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to uphold the impeachment and formally remove Mr. Yoon from office or reinstate him.

South Korean stocks sank Wednesday (December 4, 2024) while the won rebounded from earlier losses after President Yoon Suk Yeol dramatically declared martial law overnight before reversing the decision hours later.

The shock announcement sent shivers through the trading floor in Seoul and fuelled a political crisis in Asia’s third-biggest economy, with the Opposition party saying it had submitted a motion to impeach Yoon.

Investors are now keeping a close eye on developments in the country, with analysts pointing out that the upheaval comes as authorities steeled for the second United States Presidency of Donald Trump who has vowed to reignite his hardball trade policy.

The Kospi index ended down more than one percent, having shed as much as 2.3% at the open, as traders fretted over the impact of Mr. Yoon declaring South Korea’s first martial law in more than four decades.

He said the decision was made “to safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate Anti-State elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness”.

However, he backed down hours later when lawmakers voted to oppose the declaration, while thousands of protesters took to the streets and the Nation’s largest umbrella labour union called an “indefinite general strike” until Mr. Yoon resigned.

The won tumbled more than three percent to a two-year low of 1,444 per dollar after the declaration, then bounced back to around 1,410 following the U-turn.

“Rarely does a combined sell-off in a Country’s stocks, bonds and currency feel like a relief rally,” said Thomas Mathews, head of Asia-Pacific markets at Capital Economics.

Mr. Mathews said the situation could have been “much worse” had the President not aborted his plan.

“Investors now ‘only’ have to worry about a period of significant Political uncertainty,” he said.

The South Korean Finance Ministry and Central Bank looked to provide stability and reassure markets.

“As announced together with the Government, it has been decided to temporarily supply sufficient liquidity until the financial and foreign exchange markets stabilise,” the Bank of Korea said.

It added that “the range of securities eligible for repurchase agreement (repo) transactions and the target institutions will be expanded”.

Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, who also holds the economy portfolio, said Financial Authorities will keep International partners informed about developments.

But Michael Wan at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group warned of remaining uncertainty, despite the measures to recover from the initial economic hit.

“From a macro perspective, South Korea was already one of the more vulnerable countries to the impact of Trump’s proposed tariffs,” he said in a commentary.

“This recent development could raise some further risk premium on the currency at least until we get clarity on Political stability,” he added.

The losses in Seoul came on a mixed day for Asia markets, with Tokyo, Singapore, Taipei, Mumbai and Jakarta rising but Shanghai, Sydney, Wellington, Bangkok and Manila falling. Hong Kong was marginally lower.

London fell at the open, while Frankfurt hit another fresh record after ending Tuesday (December 3, 2024) above 20,000 for the first time.

Wall Street had provided a healthy lead, with the S&P (Standard & Poor’s) 500 and Nasdaq hitting fresh records as investors try to assess the chances of the Federal Reserve slashing interest rates again this month.

Even Paris eked out gains despite the brewing Political crisis in France, where opposition lawmakers vowed to topple the three-month-old minority Government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier in a no-confidence vote owing to a budget standoff.

The euro remained wedged just above a 14-month low on concerns about the outlook for the eurozone’s number two economy.

Oil prices extended gains after surging around 2.5% Tuesday (December 3, 2024) on reports that major producers at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) grouping were close to a deal to extend output limits.

Key figures around 0810 GMT

Seoul – Kospi Index: DOWN 1.4% at 2,464.00

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.1% at 39,276.39

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: FLAT at 19,742.46

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.4% at 3,364.65

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1% at 8,353.21

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0508 from $1.0511 on Tuesday (December 3, 2024)

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2679 from $1.2673

Dollar/yen: UP at 150.30 yen from 149.53 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.90 from 82.94 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3% at $70.12 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3% at $73.85 per barrel

New York – Dow: DOWN 0.2% at 44,705.53