South Korean authorities arrest impeached president

South Korean authorities have arrested impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration, marking the first time a sitting leader has been detained in the country’s history.

Live TV footage showed a motorcade of black SUVs departing the presidential compound on Wednesday morning, with Yoon later arriving at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials in the nearby city of Gwacheon.

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in Gwacheon.Credit: AP

In a pre-recorded video message circulated after his arrest, Yoon said the “rule of law has completely collapsed in this country” and maintained the investigation into him was illegal, but said he agreed to submit to questioning by authorities “to prevent any unfortunate bloodshed”.

His detention followed a three-hour-long operation that began before dawn, when hundreds of law enforcement officials and investigators began arriving at Yoon’s hillside villa in Seoul, where he had been holed up for weeks. They used ladders to climb over a barricade of buses set up by the Presidential Security Service and could be seen moving up the hill towards the compound.

Authorities were acting on a court-ordered warrant to detain Yoon for questioning over whether his December 3 martial law decree amounted to insurrection after he refused to comply with multiple summons for questioning. Investigators can question Yoon for 48 hours and then seek a formal arrest warrant on charges of insurrection and abuse of power, or must release him.

The operation was jointly carried out by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and police, with the authorities deploying as many as 3000 police officers to secure the compound after an earlier attempt to detain Yoon on January 3 failed.

Police officers stand guard as supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol protest near the presidential residence in Seoul.Credit: Bloomberg

More than 6000 pro-Yoon supporters amassed in the street outside the presidential residence, Yonhap News Agency reported, adding to fears that the volatile situation could turn violent. Some Yoon supporters, believing the arrest attempt to be invalid, waved US flags and carried banners with the slogan “Stop the Steal” - adopting the mantra of MAGA supporters after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

While besieged in the compound, Yoon issued a direct appeal to his supporters in a public letter in early January, thanking them and vowing to “fight to the end” to resist what he has called “anti-state forces” seeking to remove him from power.

Thousands of anti-Yoon protesters have also rallied in the streets since his impeachment, calling for the president to be arrested and removed from office.

As the situation unfolded on Wednesday, South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok warned government authorities against using violence.

President Yoon’s botched attempt to bring in martial law triggered a furious backlash in South Korea.Credit: AP

“All the people and the international community are watching this,” he said in a statement. “We cannot tolerate physical violence for any purposes because it will irreparably damage the trust of the people and our international reputation.

“I will sternly hold those responsible if unfortunate events occur.”

The arrest comes after an initial foiled attempt on January 3, which resulted in a more than week-long stand-off between investigators and the Presidential Security Service, which had formed a ballast of defence around Yoon, helping to barricade him inside the residence.

Yoon supporters shout slogans during a Seoul rally opposing his impeachment.Credit: AP

On Friday, the chief of the Presidential Security Service resigned after he submitted to police questioning over obstruction of public duty allegations for his role in blocking investigators from arresting Yoon.

Yoon has been suspended from his presidential duties since he was impeached by the opposition-dominated parliament on December 14 in response to his botched bid to impose martial law. He faces a separate Constitutional Court process, which began this week to decide if the impeachment should be upheld or dismissed, with the outcome to determine whether he remains in office.

Instability drags on

The martial law decree, ordered by Yoon in frustration at the opposition stymying his political agenda and blocking budget legislation, shocked the country and plunged it into its worst political crisis in decades. It marked the first time South Korea had come under military rule since its transition to democracy in the late 1980s.

Yoon withdrew the decree hours later after the parliament voted to reject it and outraged protesters descended on the streets. But the instability has dragged on for more than a month, intensified by Yoon’s refusal to co-operate with authorities and the move by opposition MPs to impeach the acting president, Han Duck-soo, just two weeks after he assumed duties from Yoon.

Lawyers for Yoon have maintained the arrest warrant was illegal because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction, and the team set up to investigate him had no legal mandate to do so.

With agencies