South Korean authorities arrested impeachable President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday on accusations of insurrection, and the embattled leader said he agreed to comply with what he called an illegal investigation to avoid “bloodshed.”
His arrest, the first of a sitting South Korean president, is the latest stunning development for one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies, even though the country has a history of prosecuting and jailing former leaders.
Since lawmakers voted to impeach him following his brief declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, Yoon has been holed up in his hillside residence, guarded by a small army of personal security who blocked an earlier arrest attempt.
A defiant Yoon said he underwent interrogation to avoid any violence after more than 3,000 police officers marched on his residence to arrest him since the early hours of Wednesday.
“I decided to respond to the CIO investigation, despite it being an illegal investigation, to avoid unpleasant bloodshed,” Yoon said in a statement, referring to the Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO) that he heads. the criminal investigation.
Yoon’s motorcade was later seen leaving his residence in an exclusive area known as Seoul’s Beverly Hills. He arrived at the investigators’ office, but was quickly surrounded by security and moved to the back of the building, where Yoon entered, evading the waiting media.
Authorities now have 48 hours to question Yoon, after which they must seek a court order to detain him for up to 20 days or release him.
Yoon’s lawyers have said the arrest warrant is illegal because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction and the team created to investigate him had no legal mandate to do so. A warrant to search Yoon at his residence, a copy of which was seen by ReutersHe referred to Yoon as “the ringleader of the insurrection.”
Yoon’s declaration of martial law shocked South Koreans, rattled Asia’s fourth-largest economy and ushered in an unprecedented period of political turmoil in one of Washington’s key security partners in the region. Lawmakers voted to impeach him and remove him from office shortly after, on December 14.
Aside from the criminal investigation, the Constitutional Court is deliberating whether to uphold his impeachment by Parliament and permanently remove him from office or restore his presidential powers.
The United States remains committed to working with the Seoul government and appreciates all its efforts and its citizens “to act in accordance with the Constitution,” a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said in a statement.
Neighboring Japan’s top government spokesman, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said at a daily news conference that Tokyo was following developments in South Korea “with special and serious interest.”
Yoon’s supporters
The latest arrest attempt that began before dawn gripped the nation with hundreds of thousands glued to live broadcasts showing busloads of police arriving near the presidential residence, pushing away Yoon’s supporters and then walking toward the gates of the complex carrying ladders and wire cutters.
When local news stations reported that Yoon’s arrest was imminent, some minor scuffles broke out between pro-Yoon protesters and police near the residence, according to a report. Reuters witness at the scene.
Meanwhile, a man set himself on fire near the corruption investigation office, where Yoon was being interrogated, the national fire agency said.
The man, aged in his 60s, was severely burned and left unconscious following the incident which occurred shortly after 8pm local time, the fire agency said. He Yonhap The news agency had previously reported that the man had died.
Crowds of those protesters gathered in sub-zero temperatures, some wrapped in foil blankets and others waving flags with “Stop the Steal” slogans, a reference to Yoon’s baseless claims of election fraud, one of the reasons he gave for justifying its ephemeral martial law. statement.
Some of Yoon’s supporters have drawn parallels with his plight and that of US President-elect Donald Trump, who also claimed voter fraud contributed to his 2020 election loss but recovered to make a surprising political comeback.
“It’s very sad to see our country falling apart,” said Kim Woo-sub, a 70-year-old retiree who was protesting Yoon’s arrest outside his residence on Wednesday.
“I still have high expectations that Trump will support our president. “Electoral fraud is something they have in common, but the United States also needs South Korea to fight China,” he said.
Although polls show that a majority of South Koreans disapprove of Yoon’s declaration of martial law and support his impeachment, the political standoff has given oxygen to his supporters and his People Power Party (PPP) has experienced a resurgence in the polls. last weeks.
Support for the PPP stood at 40.8 percent in the latest Realmeter poll released on Monday, while support for the main opposition Democratic Party stood at 42.2 percent, within a margin of error and by down from a 10.8 percent gap last week, according to the survey. .
