Out in droves: Police officers entering the compound of Yoon’s presidential residence in Seoul. — AFP
Impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol was arrested and questioned by authorities in relation to a criminal insurrection investigation, saying he was only cooperating with what he called an illegal probe to avoid violence.
His arrest yesterday, the first ever for an incumbent South Korean president, is the latest head-spinning development for one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies even though the country has a history of prosecuting and imprisoning former leaders.
Since lawmakers voted to stand him down after his short-lived declaration of martial law on Dec 3, Yoon has been holed up at his hillside residence, guarded by a small army of presidential security that blocked a previous arrest attempt.
He agreed to go in for questioning after more than 3,000 police officers determined to arrest him marched into his residence in the early hours of yesterday.
“I decided to respond to the CIO’s investigation – despite it being an illegal investigation – to prevent unsavoury bloodshed,” Yoon said in a statement, referring to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) that is heading the criminal probe.
A prosecutor accompanied Yoon in his car from his home in the upscale area known as Seoul’s Beverly Hills to the austere CIO offices, where he slipped in through a back entrance, avoiding the media.
Authorities now have 48 hours to question Yoon after which they must seek a warrant to detain him for up to 20 days or release him.
However, Yoon is refusing to talk and has not agreed to have interviews with investigators recorded on video, a CIO official said, adding that the CIO had no information on why Yoon was refusing to talk.
Yoon’s lawyers have said the arrest warrant is illegal because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction and the team set up to investigate him had no legal mandate to do so.
A warrant to search Yoon at his residence, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, referred to Yoon as “ringleader of insurrection”.
Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended when parliament impeached him on Dec 14.
The impeachment case now rests with 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 detainment, Yoon claimed that “martial law is not a crime”, saying his declaration was necessary to raise awareness about an opposition that was exercising “legislative dictatorship by blocking laws and budgets” and “paralysing” state affairs.
As they began the detention operation in the early morning, the anti-corruption investigators and police officers engaged in an hours-long standoff at the compound’s gate with presidential security forces but otherwise encountered no meaningful resistance.
Police officers were seen using wire cutters to remove the barbed wire placed by the presidential security service on the perimeter of the compound to block their entry.
Some officers used ladders to climb over rows of buses placed by the presidential security service near the compound’s entrance, and then the investigators began moving up the compound.
Some were also seen entering a security door on the side of the metal gate, joined by one of Yoon’s lawyers and his chief of staff.
The presidential security service later removed a bus and other vehicles that had been parked tightly inside the gate as a barricade.
Despite a court warrant for Yoon’s detention, the presidential security service had insisted it is obligated to protect the impeached president and fortified the compound with barbed wire and rows of buses blocking paths.
Following Yoon’s detainment, South Korea’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok met with diplomats from the Group of Seven nations, including the United States, Japan, Britain and Germany, as well as the representative of the European Union, to reassure them that the government was functioning stably.
Presidential guards were stationed on the CIO floor where Yoon is being questioned, said a CIO official, but he will likely be held at Seoul Detention Centre, where other high-profile figures including former president Park Geun-hye has also spent time.
On the menu last night – a dinner of beansprout soup, barbecue beef and kimchi, costing around US$1 (RM4.50). — Reuters/AP
