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South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol arrested

20 January 2025

South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has been arrested over charges relating to his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024. He is being kept in custody by the country's anti-corruption organisation, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).

Yoon was taken into custody at 10.33am on January 15 (Korean time) following allegations of insurrection over his attempt to impose martial law last year.  

He is the first sitting Korean president to be detained. 

According to reports, roughly 1100 police and investigators from South Korea's Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) arrived at the presidential residence in Yongsan, central Seoul at around 4.20am Wednesday morning (Korean time). They were met by members of Yoon’s presidential security service who, according to local reporting, set up barricades to try and prevent them from entering. 

CIO investigators and police then reportedly scaled walls and used ladders to enter the grounds.

READ MORE:

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol taken into custody over martial law - The Korea Herald

LIVE: Impeached Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol arrested after six-hour standoff - Korea JoongAng Daily

Rallies for, against attempt to detain Yoon take place outside presidential residence - Yonhap

Yoon has been taken to the CIO headquarters in Gwancheon, south of Seoul, where he will be questioned. Before leaving the presidential residence, he released a pre-recorded video statement, saying he would comply with the CIO to prevent "bloodshed".

"After seeing [investigators] using firefighting equipment to invade a secure area today, I've decided to accept the CIO's investigation - even though it is illegal - to prevent disgraceful bloodshed. But I do not accept investigation by the CIO," he said.

The warrant Yoon was arrested under allows the CIO to hold him for 48 hours, with the possibility of extending that. So far, he has remained silent, even to say he is refusing to testify or cooperate, according to the Korea Herald.

The standoff came just hours after Yoon failed to appear in the first hearing of his impeachment trial.

This was the second attempt to arrest Yoon: on January 3, investigators from the CIO were blocked by Yoon’s security staff when they arrived at the presidential residence. In that instance, around 150 investigators and police faced a tense standoff with roughly 200 presidential security service staff before withdrawing.

The Asia Media Centre has been following this story since Yoon's initial declaration of martial law. Read more about the situation here:

Political Crisis Deepens in S. Korea

Korea's Dark History of Martial Law

Yoon Suk Yeol Shakes the Foundations of South Korean Democracy

Impeachment against South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol fails

Banner image: President Yoon Suk Yeol in 2023. Image source available here.

Asia Media Centre