South Korean president arrested, accused of leading insurrection

Seoul: South Korean authorities arrested President Yoon Suk Yeol early Sunday, days after he was detained by investigators in relation to his botched attempt to impose martial law last month. He has been accused of leading an insurrection and abusing his power.

Yoon, who was suspended from office following his impeachment last month, is the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested. The arrest warrant, issued by a Seoul court, means Yoon will remain at the Seoul Detention Center, where he is being held for up to 20 more days. If prosecutors indict him during that period, they can hold Yoon for several more months.

Judge Cha Eun-kyung approved the warrant after interrogating Yoon and concluding there was a risk he could destroy evidence, South Korea’s semiofficial Yonhap News Agency reported.

Yoon attended the hearing Saturdayin person to "directly explain … how the martial law declaration is legitimate and how that does not validate insurrection charges,” according to a statement from his lawyers. Outside the courthouse, thousands of his supporters chanted pro-Yoon slogans and waved South Korean and American flags.

After Yoon’s arrest, some of those supporters vandalized the courthouse, breaking windows and damaging the facility’s exterior walls. South Korean police said it is investigating.

A motorcade of SUVs and police cars escorted Yoon to the court from the detention center where he has been held since being detained by the country’s Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).

The embattled leader’s predicament stems from his declaration and suspension of martial law last month - an astonishing sequence of events that was extreme even by the turbulent history of South Korea’s presidents.

After issuing the first declaration of martial law in South Korea in more than four decades on December 3, Yoon ordered the arrest of top lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties, a senior intelligence official said at a closed hearing, according to a committee member present.

He then deployed troops to the parliament in western Seoul, but lawmakers quickly voted to lift the order, forcing Yoon to rescind the declaration and withdraw the troops.

Lawmakers impeached Yoon on December 14, suspending his powers as president. It was their second attempt to impeach.

Choi Sang-mok, the finance minister, is serving as acting president while the Constitutional Court conducts hearings to determine whether it should restore Yoon’s presidential powers or fully remove him from office. The court has 180 days to make a ruling. If Yoon is removed, South Korea will hold elections to select a new leader within two months.

Public prosecutors, corruption investigators, military authorities and police have been conducting separate criminal investigations into the events of December 3. 

They have viewed them as actions that amount to an insurrection - a crime that can result in the death penalty. South Korea retains capital punishment but has not executed a criminal since 1997. Amnesty International views the country as "abolitionist in practice” regarding capital punishment.

Sitting South Korean presidents are generally granted immunity from prosecution, but there are exceptions for charges of treason or insurrection.

After his impeachment in December, Yoon mostly remained holed up at his official residence in central Seoul. After he ignored three summonses for questioning, authorities obtained a warrant allowing them to detain him for up to 48 hours - but they failed to execute the warrant until this week because Yoon’s presidential security service barred them from entering his residence.

Yoon surrendered himself Wednesday, saying he was doing so to avoid a bloody clash between police and his security team, after an operation involving some 3,200 police officers. Officers forced themselves into his residential compound using ladders and wire cutters.

Yoon has been given minimal special treatment in detention.