Rabat – Authorities in South Korea have officially arrested President Yoon Suk Yeol, making headlines as the first sitting leader to face such an action in the Asian country.
Authorities apprehended the president at his residence in central Seoul after weeks of resistance from his security team.
Yoon stands accused of ordering martial law during a failed attempt to consolidate power on December 3. However, facing widespread national opposition, he reversed the controversial move just six hours later.
The move plunged the country into chaos and triggered his impeachment by parliament. While his duties remain suspended, the Constitutional Court has yet to rule on his removal from office.
Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) clashed with Yoon’s security team during a failed arrest attempt earlier this month.
Undeterred, a team of around 1,000 officers returned before dawn on Wednesday, using ladders and bolt cutters to breach barricades and barbed wire surrounding his home.
After several hours, they succeeded in taking the president into custody.
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In a video he released shortly after his arrest, Yoon insisted the investigation lacked legal grounds, describing the warrant as invalid.
“I decided to respond to the CIO’s investigation – despite it being an illegal investigation – to prevent unsavoury bloodshed,” he said, accusing authorities of breaking through his home’s defenses.
According to Reuters, Yoon’s lawyers condemned the arrest as illegal, arguing that the CIO, an anti-corruption agency, lacks jurisdiction over insurrection charges.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, who was serving as acting president, now takes the helm.
He replaced Hand Duck-soo, who was also put in temporary power after Yoon’s ousting, but was later impeached by the opposition-controlled parliament.
Yoon’s arrest has brought thousands of South Koreans to the streets, split between those demanding accountability and others fiercely defending his leadership.
Yoon now awaits a court decision at the Seoul Detention Center, located in Gyeonggi Province.
If the court does not issue a detention warrant within 48 hours, he will be released and allowed to return to his residence.
As the country waits for further developments, Yoon’s arrest serves as a stark reminder of South Korea’s ongoing political limbo and the uncertainty that lies ahead.
