President Yoon Arrested Over Martial Law Insurrection Allegations
South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk-Yeol has been arrested in the early hours of Wednesday morning, January 15, 2024, as authorities accused him of insurrection stemming from his brief imposition of martial law; a decision that was swiftly overturned by the National Assembly. Yoon becomes the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested.
The Joint Investigation Headquarters announced the execution of the arrest warrant at 10:33 a.m. local time leading to a tense standoff at Yoon’s residence where investigators had to utilize ladders to access the property due to barricades stationed by the Presidential Security Service. Reports indicated that thousands of Yoon’s supporters gathered outside his home alongside lawmakers from the governing conservative People Power Party and his legal team who attempted to block the arrest.
Following his arrest, Yoon was taken to the Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang for questioning. The deputy chief of Korea’s Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), Lee Jae-seung, led the interrogation. Yoon exercised his right to remain silent and denied permission for the session to be filmed. The CIO has prepared a comprehensive 200-page questionnaire for Yoon but did not disclose the reasons behind his refusal to speak.
In a prerecorded statement released after his arrest, Yoon expressed that he complied with the investigation to prevent “bloodshed,” despite challenging the legality of the inquiry. “I decided to respond to the Corruption Investigation Office to avert any unfortunate bloodshed,” he stated.
Investigators had made a prior attempt to arrest Yoon earlier in January which ended in a prolonged standoff. Since then, Yoon had remained in seclusion in his hillside villa in Seoul evading arrest and subsequently failing to attend his impeachment trial.
The impeachment proceedings were initiated following Yoon’s controversial martial law declaration on December 3, 2023, in response to perceived threats from North Korea. His decision had included deploying troops to parliament but lawmakers quickly countered his move leading to a retraction of the martial law declaration after just six hours. This incident has plunged South Korea into a significant political crisis contributing to Yoon’s plummeting popularity.
As news of Yoon’s arrest unfolded, the CIO has 48 hours to question him before needing to apply for a warrant for his detention which could allow for up to 20 days of holding him as investigations continue. Observers anticipate that Yoon may be compelled to attend his impeachment hearing now that he has been taken into custody.
The political landscape in South Korea remains tumultuous with ongoing ramifications from Yoon’s controversial decisions during his presidency which began in May 2022 after rising to prominence as the chief prosecutor in the corruption investigation against former president Park Geun-hye in 2017.
