South Korean authorities detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over martial law declaration

South Korea's anti-corruption agency stated that impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol has been detained on charges of insurrection related to a martial law order announced on December 3rd of last year. After a standoff lasting several hours outside the presidential residence gates, anti-corruption investigators and police were seen entering the premises.

Yoon Suk-yeol stated that he voluntarily submitted to questioning in order to avoid any violent confrontation, after more than 3,000 police officers arrived at his residence to arrest him. The embattled leader said he agreed to cooperate with the investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) to avoid “bloodshed.”

“Today when I saw them using fire equipment to break into the secure area, I decided to respond to the CIO investigation—even though it is an illegal investigation—to prevent unnecessary bloodshed,” Yoon said in a statement. Hundreds of South Korean law enforcement officials entered Yoon's residential compound in Seoul, marking a dramatic escalation in the investigation of the embattled leader.

A convoy of vehicles was then seen leaving the gates of his hillside residence, where Yoon had been surrounded by razor wire and a small contingent of private security for weeks. Authorities now have 48 hours to question Yoon, after which they must apply for an arrest warrant to detain him for up to 20 days or release him. Yoon's lawyers argued that the attempt to detain him was illegal and designed to publicly humiliate him. This was the second attempt to detain Yoon in the past month over his implementation of martial law.

Earlier, police were seen using ladders to climb over several rows of buses that presidential security had placed near the entrance to the residence. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and police are jointly investigating whether Yoon’s brief martial law order constituted an attempted insurrection. They pledged to take stronger measures to detain him after presidential security thwarted their initial effort on January 3rd.

Yoon defended his martial law order as a legitimate act of governance against an “anti-state” opposition that was obstructing his agenda with its legislative majority. He vowed to “fight to the end” against efforts to remove him from office. Despite a court issuing a warrant for Yoon’s arrest, presidential security insisted they were obligated to protect the impeached president and had fortified his residence with razor wire and blocked the roads with rows of buses.

As tensions escalated, South Korea's acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choe Sang-mok, issued a statement urging law enforcement and presidential security to ensure there were no “physical clashes.” Earlier, groups of police vehicles, including a white van that likely carried members of a search and arrest team, could be seen in front of the presidential residence's closed metal gates. Several other groups of police were also seen moving along hiking trails on a nearby hillside, apparently looking for another route of entry.

Yoon’s lawyers stated that presidential security was providing security for Yoon and claimed that the detention warrant issued by the Seoul Western District Court was invalid. They cited a law that protects locations that may be related to military secrets from being searched without the consent of the person in charge—in this case, Yoon. The detention warrant for Yoon is valid until January 21st.

Earlier, members of Yoon’s People Power Party, as well as at least one of his lawyers, were seen at the gates of the residence, apparently arguing with the anti-corruption officials and police who were trying to enter. Hundreds of Yoon’s supporters and critics held dueling protests near the residence—one side vowing to protect him, the other calling for his imprisonment—while thousands of police in yellow jackets closely monitored the situation, setting up barricades with buses.

Yoon declared martial law on December 3rd and deployed troops around the National Assembly. The measure lasted only a few hours before politicians managed to break through the blockade and vote to lift it. Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated parliament voted to impeach him on December 14th, accusing him of insurrection. Separately, the Constitutional Court is deliberating whether to uphold the impeachment, permanently remove him from office, or reinstate his presidential powers.

Prior to his arrest, Yoon had not left his official residence in Seoul for weeks, and presidential security had blocked dozens of investigators from detaining him during a nearly six-hour standoff on January 3rd. The National Police Agency had held several on-site commanders’ meetings in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province in recent days to plan their detention operation. The size of the forces had led to speculation that more than a thousand police officers could be deployed in a multi-day operation. The agency and police had publicly warned that presidential bodyguards who obstructed the execution of the arrest warrant could be arrested.

The latest arrest operation began before dawn, capturing national attention as hundreds of thousands watched live feeds showing busloads of police arriving near the presidential residence, pushing past Yoon's supporters, then moving towards the gates of the residence with ladders and bolt cutters. According to Reuters witnesses on the scene, some minor clashes broke out between pro-Yoon protesters and police near the residence as local news broadcasts reported Yoon was about to be detained.

Groups of protesters had gathered before dawn in sub-freezing temperatures, some wrapped in foil blankets, others waving flags with slogans like “Stop the Steal,” referring to Yoon’s unsubstantiated claims of election fraud—which was also one of his justifications for his brief martial law order. Some of Yoon's supporters have drawn parallels between his plight and that of US President-elect Donald Trump, who also claimed voter fraud led to his defeat in the 2020 election but later engineered a stunning political comeback.

“I feel very sad to see our country falling apart,” said Kim Woo-seop, a 70-year-old retiree, while protesting Yoon's arrest outside his residence. “I still have high hopes for Trump supporting our president. Election fraud is what they have in common, and the US needs South Korea to counter China,” he said. While polls show that a majority of South Koreans disagree with Yoon’s martial law order and support his impeachment, the political standoff has provided an opening for his supporters, and his People Power Party has also seen a resurgence in recent weeks.

In the latest Realmeter poll released on Monday, support for the People Power Party stood at 40.8%, compared to 42.2% for the main opposition Democratic Party, within the margin of error and down from a 10.8% gap the previous week, the poll showed.