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South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol became the first sitting president to be arrested in the country’s history after weeks-long standoff. Yoon was under investigation on charges of insurrection.
It was the investigators' second attempt to detain him. The first attempt on January 3 failed after a tense hours-long standoff with members of Yoon's official Presidential Security Service (PSS), who refused to budge when investigators tried to execute their warrant, news agency AFP reported.
Emotions were running high in front of the presidential residence on Tuesday. As investigators reached Yoon's residence to arrest him, his supporters reportedly scuffled with police, sobbed and prayed. Hundreds of anti-graft investigators and police raided his residence to end a weeks-long standoff.
More than 3,000 police officers and anti-corruption investigators had gathered at Yoon's hillside residence before dawn, pushing through throngs of Yoon supporters and members of his ruling People Power Party protesting attempts to detain him.
Yoon Suk Yeol is South Korea's now suspended president. According to BBC, he rose to power after gaining popularity among conservative voters through an anti-feminist platform and a hawkish stance on North Korea.
He ascended to the presidency in 2022. Yoon had declared martial law on December 3, plunging South Korea into political chaos. This resulted in Yoon's impeachment by parliament and subsequent criminal investigations. Lawmakers voted to impeach him and remove him from duties on December 14.
Yoon had then holed up in the presidential residence as his presidential guard tried to prevent his arrest for a second time this month.
However, Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday over his failed martial law bid.
Yoon, who was impeached and charged with insurrection over his short-lived effort to impose martial law last month, is the first sitting president in the nation's history to be arrested.
A hundreds-strong unarmed team of investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) and police officers tried to enter the residential compound but were blocked by unidentified personnel at the entrance gate, AFP journalists saw.
TV footage showed investigators climbing ladders into Yoon's residential compound. AFP images showed scores of officers with "police" and "CIO" marked on their backs inside.
They were also seen marching up the roads leading to Yoon's hillside residence, holding ladders after entering the compound from at least two different entrances, an AFP journalist said.
Yoon's lawyer announced on Wednesday morning the president had agreed to speak to investigators and that he had decided to leave the residence to prevent a "serious incident".
"President Yoon has decided to personally appear at the Corruption Investigation Office today," Seok Dong-hyeon said on Facebook, adding that Yoon would also deliver a speech.
But investigators announced shortly after that Yoon had been arrested. "The Joint Investigation Headquarters executed an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol today (January 15) at 10:33 am (0130 GMT)," they said in a statement.
South Korea's Yoon said the 'rule of law has completely collapsed' after he was detained in investigation into martial law.
According to Reuters, Yoon's lawyers argued attempts to detain Yoon were illegal and were designed to publicly humiliate him. The warrant investigators secured for his arrest is the first ever issued against an incumbent South Korean president.
Following his arrest, Yoon can be held for up to 48 hours on the existing warrant. Investigators would need to apply for another arrest warrant to keep him in custody. Yoon's legal team had repeatedly decried the warrant as illegal.
In a parallel probe, Yoon's impeachment trial began Tuesday with a brief hearing after he declined to attend. Although his failure to attend -- which his team has blamed on purported safety concerns -- forced a procedural adjournment, the hearings will continue without Yoon, with the next set for Thursday.
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