Several previous South Korean heads of state have ended up in prison, but Yoon Suk-yeol has the dubious honor of being the first sitting president to be arrested. An earlier attempt to arrest Yoon at his official residence in Seoul failed on January 3, but this time he was taken away by investigators from the Anti-Corruption Agency (CIO) after an operation that lasted more than six hours.
Yoon is suspected of rebellion by the South Korean justice system, an offense punishable by life in prison or even the death penalty – although in practice this has not been carried out for decades. The president is said to have been guilty of this when he declared a military state of emergency on December 3 because, according to him, the country was threatened by “anti-state and pro-North Korean forces.”
He ordered the army to prevent the National Assembly from meeting to lift the measure, as the constitution allows. That failed, and the parliamentarians present unanimously rejected the power grab that same night, after which the army withdrew and Yoon had to retrace his steps.
Impeachment
After parliament nominated him for impeachment at the Constitutional Court a week and a half later and the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into his actions, Yoon holed up in his official residence in the prosperous Hannam-dong district. For example, he did not show up on Tuesday at the first hearing that the Constitutional Court held on his impeachment.
From his residence, Yoon resisted his arrest with all means: his lawyers challenged the validity of the arrest warrant, he encouraged his supporters who demonstrated in the streets against his arrest, while his security refused to let in the officers who tried to to pick up Yoon.
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After they left without accomplishing anything after a six-hour standoff, Yoon’s security guards barricaded the complex with barbed wire barriers and blocked the entrances with coaches.
3,200 police officers
The CIO’s arrest team, which this time was assisted by 3,200 police officers, also had to overcome obstacles in this second arrest attempt. Outside the complex, Yoon’s party members and lawyers formed a human chain, and despite the early hour (5:30 am) and the bitter cold (six degrees below zero), thousands of the president’s supporters were out and about.
Officers warned conservative lawmakers and protesters with loudspeakers that they risked arrest if they tried to prevent Yoon’s arrest. There were minor skirmishes between the police and some demonstrators. At least one person was injured, although the cause was not immediately clear.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok, who has been widely criticized in recent weeks for keeping a low profile on the issue and refusing to order the presidential security service to assist in the arrest, had previously called on all parties to refrain from violence. When the operation was underway, he said again that “mutual confrontation between different government services is unacceptable.”
Indeed, such a confrontation did not occur when, three hours after the start of the operation, police officers climbed over the gates of the complex with a ladder and took the path uphill to Yoon’s home. Although they encountered several barricades on that route, Yoon’s security guards themselves had withdrawn.
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At the third of six obstacles, a delegation of investigators was met by Yoon’s chief of staff Chung Jin-suk, who escorted them to the official residence. According to Yoon’s lawyer, they allegedly negotiated a compromise there, whereby Yoon – who previously ignored three calls for an interrogation – would avoid arrest by voluntarily allowing himself to be interrogated.
But the anti-corruption agency did not want to hear about that, it made clear at a press briefing. Just after 9:30 a.m. local time, about five hours after the start of the operation, Yoon was arrested. According to the CIO, no force was used by Yoon’s security this time.
After his arrest, Yoon said in a video message that he only agreed to this “to avoid bloodshed.” According to him, his upcoming interrogation is part of “an illegal investigation.”
Trial
Yoon will be taken to the anti-corruption agency office in the suburb of Gwacheon for questioning. The CIO will likely then ask a court for Yoon’s formal arrest. Otherwise, the president will be released after 48 hours.
Outside the presidential residence, Yoon’s supporters responded to his arrest by chanting his name. They also waved South Korean and American flags and called for the arrest of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung.
Elsewhere in Seoul, opponents of Yoon took to the streets to express their relief over the arrest. When it became clear that the police had entered the president’s complex, cheers went up.
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