South Korean investigators have arrested South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol over accusations of insurrection for briefly imposing martial law in a move swiftly overturned by the country’s National Assembly.
The authorities said in a statement, “The Joint Investigation Headquarters executed an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk-yeol today [January 15] at 10:33 am [01:30 GMT].”
This makes Yoon the first South Korean President to be arrested while still in office.
The operation on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 was the second attempt by investigators to arrest Yoon.
An earlier failed attempt ended after an hours-long standoff between authorities and Yoon’s security team inside the presidential compound at the beginning of January.
Since then, Yoon had remained inside his hillside villa in Seoul for weeks in an effort to evade arrest.
He also failed to show up for his impeachment trial on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, morning, leading to the hearings being adjourned minutes after they had begun.
In a prerecorded video message released after his arrest, Yoon asserted that he had made the decision to submit to questioning over his failed martial law bid. “I decided to respond to the Corruption Investigation Office,” Yoon said, adding that he did not accept the legality of the investigation but was complying “to prevent any unfortunate bloodshed.”
Yoon claimed the rule of law had “completely collapsed” after his detention.
His lawyer Seok Dong-hyeon said on Facebook, “President Yoon has decided to personally appear at the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) today,” adding that the impeached leader would also make a speech.
However, investigators announced shortly afterwards that Yoon had been arrested.
South Korean investigators and police used ladders to climb into Yoon’s residential compound earlier in the day after they were initially blocked by the Presidential Security Service, which barricaded the entrance using vehicles, according to reports.
Crowds of Yoon supporters, most of them elderly, gathered near the residence gates and around makeshift stages hosting speeches describing the arrest warrant “fake” and calling for the arrest of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung.
Nearby, a smaller group of pro-impeachment protesters, kept apart from Yoon’s supporters by a police cordon, was chanting “Enter! Enter! Arrest him!”
Earlier there were fears that the latest attempt to arrest Yoon could end in a repeat of a tense standoff earlier this month, when investigators were blocked from detaining the suspended President by the presidential security service.
South Korea’s news agency reported that the deputy chief of Korea’s Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), Lee Jae-seung, led questioning of Yoon inside an interrogation room, with Yoon’s legal representatives present.
The CIO said that Yoon would be held at Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang, following questioning.
Authorities now have 48 hours to question Yoon, after which they must seek a warrant to detain him for up to 20 days or release him.
Yoon Refuses To Talk
Investigators began questioning the suspended President shortly after his arrest, but they said he had exercised “his right to remain silent.”
He also withheld permission for the interview to be filmed.
CIO officials said that Yoon refused to talk during two and a half hours of questioning.
The CIO, which has a questionnaire of over 200 pages prepared for Yoon, told reporters that it had no information on why he was refusing to talk.
The standoff at Yoon’s presidential residence came just hours after he failed to appear for the first hearing in his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law on December 3.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok said in a statement early on Wednesday as the operation unfolded, “This situation is a crucial moment for maintaining order and the rule of law in South Korea.”
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