South Korea's impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was detained in a major police operation at the presidential complex on Wednesday, defiantly insisting the anti-graft agency had no authority to investigate his actions but saying he complied to avoid violence.
Yoon, the country's first detained sitting president, now faces the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence on possible rebellion charges.
In a video message recorded shortly before being escorted to the anti-graft agency headquarters, Yoon lamented that “the rule of law has completely collapsed in this country.”
Yoon had been holed up in the Hannam-dong residence in the capital Seoul for weeks as he vowed to “fight to the end” in efforts to overthrow him. He has justified his declaration of martial law on December 3 as a legitimate act of government against an “anti-state” opposition that uses its legislative majority to thwart his agenda.
The Corruption Investigation Bureau for Senior Officials said Yoon was detained about five hours after investigators arrived at the presidential complex and about three hours after they successfully entered the residence, in their second attempt to detain him for his imposition of martial law.
A series of black vans, some equipped with sirens, were seen leaving the presidential compound with police escorts. Yoon was later seen getting out of a vehicle after arriving at the agency's office in the nearby city of Gwacheon.
Hundreds of Yoon's conservative supporters gathered near the anti-graft agency office as he was questioned, shouting slogans and holding signs that read: “We will fight alongside President Yoon Suk Yeol.”
Also on Wednesday, an unidentified man was in mortal danger after an apparent self-immolation near the scene, according to the Gyeonggi provincial fire department. Following interrogation, Yoon was expected to be sent to a detention center in Uiwang, near Seoul.
Yoon could be detained for weeks, possibly even months or longer.
The anti-graft agency, which is leading a joint investigation with the police and military into whether Yoon's declaration of martial law amounted to an attempted rebellion, has 48 hours to request a court order for his formal arrest.
If he doesn't, Yoon will be released. If Yoon is formally arrested, investigators may extend his detention to 20 days before transferring the case to prosecutors for prosecution.
If prosecutors charge Yoon with rebellion and abuse of power, which are the allegations examined by investigators, he could possibly remain under arrest until the initial court ruling, which is typically issued within six months, Park Sung-bae said. a lawyer specialized in criminal law.
Under South Korean law, the leader of a rebellion can face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted.
“If the first court gives a prison sentence, the detention simply continues,” Park said. “If he is sentenced to life in prison, for example, he will continue to serve that sentence until the end.”
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Yoon's defense minister, police chief and several top military commanders had already been arrested for their role in enforcing martial law.
The arrest warrant for Yoon, issued by the Seoul Western District Court, said there were substantial reasons to suspect that he committed crimes as a “leader of a rebellion.”
The anti-graft agency told reporters that Yoon, during several hours of questioning until Wednesday night, exercised his right to remain silent.
Yoon's presidential powers were suspended when parliament impeached him on December 14. The impeachment case now falls to the Constitutional Court, which could formally remove Yoon from office or reject the case and reinstate him.
In a separate message posted on his Facebook account after his arrest, Yoon said that “martial law is not a crime,” saying his statement was necessary to raise awareness about an opposition that was exercising a “legislative dictatorship by blocking laws and budgets” and “paralyzing” state affairs. He denied accusations of rebellion and described his impeachment as a “fraud.”
The scene at the venue.
As they began the arrest operation early in the morning, anti-corruption investigators and police officers clashed for hours at the gate of the complex with presidential security forces, but otherwise encountered no significant resistance.
Police officers were seen using wire cutters to remove barbed wire placed by the presidential security service on the perimeter of the complex to block its entrance. Some police officers used ladders to climb over the rows of buses blocking the complex's entrance, and then investigators began moving up the mountainous complex. Investigators and police later arrived in front of a metal gate with a gold presidential mark that is near Yoon's residential building. Some officers were seen entering through a security gate next to the metal gate, accompanied by one of Yoon's lawyers and his chief of staff, before Yoon was kicked out.
Preparations and worries
South Korea's interim leader, Vice Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, issued a statement early Wednesday urging law enforcement and the presidential security service to ensure there are no “physical clashes.”
Following Yoon's arrest, Choi met with diplomats from the Group of Seven countries, including the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and Germany, as well as the representative of the European Union, to assure them that the government was functioning stably.
Park Chan-dae, parliamentary leader of the liberal opposition Democratic Party, which led the legislative campaign to impeach Yoon, said Yoon's detention was the “first step toward restoring constitutional order, democracy and realizing the rule of law.” ”.
Lawmakers from Yoon's People Power Party condemned the detention as illegal.
The National Police Agency met with field commanders in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi Province in recent days to plan their efforts to apprehend Yoon, and the size of those forces fueled speculation that more than 1,000 officers could be deployed. . The agency and the police had openly warned that presidential bodyguards who obstructed the execution of the order could be detained.
Yoon's lawyers have said the detention order issued by the Seoul Western District Court was invalid. They cited a law that protects places potentially linked to military secrets from searches without the consent of the person in charge, who would be Yoon. They also said the anti-graft agency had no legal authority to investigate rebellion allegations.
“I am really shocked to see illegalities after illegalities being carried out and procedures being carried out forcibly under an invalid court order,” Yoon said in the video.
“I do not recognize the investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials. “As president, responsible for upholding the constitution and legal system of the Republic of Korea, my decision to comply with such illegal and invalid procedures is not an acknowledgment of them, but rather a willingness to avoid unfortunate and bloody incidents.”
Yoon's supporters and critics have held rival protests near the residence: one side vowed to protect him, the other called for his imprisonment, while thousands of yellow-jacketed police closely monitored the tense situation.
Some Yoon supporters reacted with dismay as they watched the motorcade head toward Gwacheon. Some were removed by police officers after lying on the road in protest.
Yoon declared martial law and deployed troops around the National Assembly on December 3. It lasted only a few hours before lawmakers managed to overcome the blockade and vote to lift the measure. The opposition-led assembly voted to charge him with rebellion on December 14.
The Constitutional Court held its first formal hearing on the impeachment case on Tuesday, but the session lasted less than five minutes because Yoon refused to attend. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.