Yoon is the first sitting president in the history of the country to be detained. He was impeached and charged with insurrection for his brief attempt to implement martial law last month.
Following a weeks-long standoff, hundreds of police and anti-graft investigators attacked South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s home, leading to his detention for his unsuccessful attempt to impose martial law.
Before dawn on Wednesday, hundreds of police officers and Corruption Investigation Office detectives had poured up the driveway to the presidential home, with some climbing back trails and scaling perimeter walls to get to the main building.
They attempted to arrest Yoon for the second time.
After a heated, hours-long standoff with officers of Yoon’s official Presidential Security Service (PSS), who refused to move when investigators attempted to execute their warrant, the initial attempt on January 3 failed.
According to Yoon’s attorney, the president agreed to talk to investigators and left the house to avoid a “serious incident” on Wednesday morning.
Seok Dong-hyeon posted on Facebook, “President Yoon has decided to personally appear at the Corruption Investigation Office today,” and Yoon will also give a speech.
Soon after, however, investigators declared Yoon’s arrest.
“The Joint Investigation Headquarters executed an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol today (January 15) at 10:33 am (0130 GMT),” the statement read.
“The rule of law fell apart.”
Before being brought to the anti-corruption agency’s offices, Yoon taped a video message in which he bemoaned the “complete collapse of the rule of law in this country.”
Yoon’s attorneys attempted to convince investigators not to carry out the detention warrant by claiming the president would willingly come in for interrogation, but the agency rejected their request.
Having vowed to “fight to the end” against the attempts to remove him, Yoon had spent weeks holed up in the Hannam-dong mansion in the capital, Seoul.
He defended his imposition of martial law on December 3 as a lawful measure to quell a “anti-state” opposition that was using its legislative majority to obstruct his plans.
For the retry on Wednesday, police opted to wear bulletproof vests instead of carrying firearms because to the tense environment, in case they were confronted by armed guards, according to local media.
Under the terms of the current warrant, Yoon may be detained for up to 48 hours after his arrest. To keep him in custody, investigators would have to request another arrest warrant.
