Yoon Becomes First-Ever Sitting South Korean President to Be Arrested
Embattled President of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached by the Parliament on December 14, has finally been arrested.
Although he was impeached, he is still technically the country’s President pending a court ruling on the impeachment case. Hence, he becomes the first sitting President in the history of South Korea to be arrested.
The arrest, which was carried out by investigators who used ladders and wire cutters to get to Yoon, who was being protected by the Presidential Security Service (PSS), was the second attempt to arrest the President.
On January 3, an attempt to arrest Yoon failed after a six-hour standoff between his security team and a combined team of the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) and police.
Yoon is expected to be detained at the Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, after undergoing questioning on Wednesday. If a detention warrant is not issued by the court within 48 hours, he’ll be released and would be free to return to the presidential residence.
Although the 64-year-old leader has maintained that the issue of a warrant for his arrest, which was issued in late December last year, is illegal, he has agreed to cooperate with the investigation surrounding his administration.
“I decided to appear before the CIO, even though it is an illegal investigation, in order to prevent any unsavoury bloodshed,” he said in a released three-minute video.
However, Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the opposition Democratic Party, has hailed the arrest, adding that Yoon’s arrest “is the first step toward restoring constitutional order, democracy, and the rule of law.”
Yoon’s political downfall accelerated after he declared a controversial martial law on December 3. The move triggered a political crisis, leading to his impeachment by an opposition-controlled parliament.
Yoon’s martial law declaration, though brief, plunged the nation into turmoil. It was intended to quell mass protests but only amplified them, leading to his swift impeachment. The fallout extended further when his successor, Acting President and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, was also impeached shortly after assuming office. Currently, the country is being led by Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok as acting president.
