Seoul | President Yoon Suk Yeol became the first sitting South Korean leader to be detained for questioning by criminal investigators on Wednesday, ending a weeks-long standoff over his declaration of martial law that thrust the country into a political crisis.

Mr Yoon’s security guards blocked the investigators from detaining him on January 3, when they made their first attempt to serve a court-issued detention warrant. Since then, the country has been gripped by fears that a violent clash might occur if both sides refused to back down.