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South Korea’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday morning following a predawn raid by police and investigators on his fortified hilltop compound.
Yoon’s detention followed a six-hour stand-off between law enforcement and members of the president’s security detail. It is the first time in South Korea’s history that a sitting president has been arrested.
The development marks the latest twist in a political crisis that was triggered by Yoon’s failed attempt to impose martial law last month, and which has shaken confidence in the democratic integrity of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Yoon was suspended from his duties after he was impeached by parliament in December following his shortlived power grab. The country is currently being led by finance minister Choi Sang-mok as acting president.
The operation on Wednesday, which began shortly after 4am, was the second attempt by the country’s Corruption Investigation Office to detain Yoon for questioning on insurrection and abuse of office charges.
An initial effort earlier this month was foiled by Yoon’s protection officers following a tense hours-long stand-off at the presidential residence. Yoon previously refused to comply with investigators and had challenged their authority to bring him in for questioning.
“The rule of law has completely collapsed in this country,” Yoon said in a video statement recorded before his arrest. “I’ve decided to appear for CIO questioning in order to prevent any bloodshed.”
According to South Korea’s state-owned news agency Yonhap, police and CIO officials presented a warrant for Yoon’s arrest early on Wednesday but were again initially prevented from entering the compound by the Presidential Security Service. About 30 lawmakers from Yoon’s conservative People Power party were also present, Yonhap reported.
But with hundreds of police gathered outside, some of them equipped with ladders and wire cutters, CIO officials were eventually allowed to enter the residence.
Yoon’s lawyers attempted to broker a deal for him to surrender voluntarily, which was not accepted by CIO officials. He was arrested just after 10.30am and transferred to the investigative agency’s headquarters for questioning.
“Yoon’s arrest is the first step towards restoring our constitutional order,” said Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the leftwing opposition Democratic Party of Korea. “It underlines that justice is still alive.”
While his powers have been transferred to Choi as acting president, Yoon remains South Korea’s head of state as the country’s Constitutional Court deliberates on whether to approve his impeachment or reinstate him in office.
The court held its first formal hearing on Tuesday, but the session was adjourned after four minutes because the suspended president declined to attend, citing concerns for his personal safety.
A lawyer for Yoon on Wednesday said the president would attend a future hearing to “actively make his case once controversial issues are resolved”.
The CIO’s investigation relates to a separate criminal process connected to Yoon’s failed martial law bid.
Yonhap reported on Wednesday afternoon that Yoon, a hardline former prosecutor, was refusing to co-operate with investigators at the CIO’s detention centre.
Authorities have 48 hours to question him, after which they must secure a detention warrant in order to hold him for a further 20 days. Experts said the president was likely to be held in solitary confinement between interrogation sessions.
Yoon has denied wrongdoing, and his lawyers have argued that the CIO has no standing to pursue criminal insurrection charges against him.
In a statement posted to Facebook following his arrest, Yoon maintained that “a martial law decree is not a crime” but rather “a presidential right to overcome a national crisis” and “an appeal to the public”.
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