South Korea’s impeached president arrested after police raid his home

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was arrested and questioned by authorities in connection with a criminal rebellion investigation on Wednesday, saying he cooperated with what he called an illegal investigation only to avoid violence.

The event marks the first time a sitting South Korean president has been arrested, although the democracy has a history of prosecuting and imprisoning former leaders.

Since lawmakers voted to oust Yoon after his short-lived declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, the president is holed up in his hillside residence, guarded by a small army of personal guards who blocked an earlier arrest attempt.

He agreed to come in for questioning after more than 3,000 police officers, intent on arresting him, moved to his residence in the early hours of Wednesday.

“I decided to respond to the CIO’s investigation — even though it was illegal — to prevent unpleasant bloodshed,” Yoon said in a statement, referring to the Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO), which is leading the criminal investigation.

Yoon is not communicating with investigators

The prosecutor escorted Yoon in his car from his home in an upscale Seoul neighborhood known as Seoul’s Beverly Hills to the austere offices of the IT director, where he slipped through a back door, avoiding the press.

Authorities now have 48 hours to question Yoon, after which they must either release him or seek a warrant to detain him for up to 20 days.

Yoon, however, refuses to talk and has refused to be videotaped interviewing investigators, a CIO spokesman said. The IT director said he had no information on why Yoon refused to talk.

Yun’s lawyers said the arrest warrant was illegal because it was issued by a court of the wrong jurisdiction and the team set up to investigate his crime did not have the legal authority to do so.

A search warrant for Yoon’s residence, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, called Yoon a “rebellion leader.”

Presidential guards have been stationed on the IT director’s floor where Yoon is being questioned, a spokesman for the IT director said, but he is likely to be held at the Seoul Detention Center, where other high-ranking officials are being held, including former President Park Geun-hye and the chairman of Samsung Electronics Jay I. .Lee, also spent time.

The court decides Yoon’s future

Yun’s declaration of martial law shocked South Koreans, shook Asia’s fourth-largest economy and set off an unprecedented period of political upheaval in one of Washington’s key regional security partners.

Shortly thereafter, on December 14, lawmakers voted for impeachment and removal from office.

In addition to the criminal investigation, the country’s Constitutional Court is debating whether to support his impeachment by parliament and permanently remove him from office or restore his presidential powers.

The United States remains committed to working with the government in Seoul and appreciates all its efforts and its citizens to “act in accordance with the constitution,” a White House National Security Council spokesman said in a statement.

Yoshimasa Hayashi, chief spokesman for neighboring Japan’s government, told a daily briefing that Tokyo was following developments in South Korea “with special and serious interest.”

Supporters point to Trump

The latest arrest attempt, which began before dawn, gripped the nation as hundreds of thousands of people watched live broadcasts showing busloads of police arriving at the presidential residence, pushing past Yun’s supporters and marching toward the compound’s gates, carrying ladders and wire cutters. .

As local broadcasters reported that Yoon’s arrest was imminent, minor clashes broke out outside the residence between pro-Yoon protesters and police, according to a Reuters witness at the scene.

Crowds of protesters, who also gathered outside the CIO offices, waved South Korean and American flags and held placards reading “Stop the theft,” referring to Yoon’s baseless claims of election fraud, one of the reasons he cited to justify his ephemerality. declaration of martial law.

Some of Yun’s supporters have drawn parallels between his plight and that of US President-elect Donald Trump, who also claimed election fraud contributed to his 2020 election defeat but rebounded and made a stunning political comeback.

“It’s very sad to see our country falling apart,” said Kim Woo Sub, a 70-year-old retiree who protested Yoon’s arrest outside his residence on Wednesday.

“I’m still very hopeful that Trump will support our president. Election fraud is what unites them, but also the US needs South Korea to fight China,” he said.