Yoon Suk Yeol: South Korea impeached president arrested after investigators scale walls

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was arrested for allegedly ordering a failed martial law on December 3rd, becoming the first president in South Korean history to be arrested while in office. Investigators broke through barriers and barbed wire to take him into custody. Yoon, 64, is under investigation for alleged insurrection, an event that plunged the country into turmoil. He was also impeached and suspended by the National Assembly, but he will only be formally removed from office if the Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment resolution.

Yoon's dramatic arrest on Wednesday ended weeks of standoffs between investigators and the president’s security team. Previously, investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) had faced a six-hour standoff with his security personnel on January 3rd when they attempted to arrest him. However, before dawn on Wednesday, a larger team of investigators and police arrived at his residence in central Seoul, carrying ladders to climb over buses blocking the entrance and using bolt cutters to remove barbed wire.

The arrest team, consisting of about 1,000 officers, also scaled walls and climbed nearby paths to finally reach the president's residence. After hours of operation, authorities announced that Yoon had been arrested. In a three-minute video released before his arrest, the 64-year-old leader said he would cooperate with the investigation while reiterating his previous claim that the arrest warrant was illegal. "I decided to appear before the CIO, even if it is an illegal investigation, to prevent any unnecessary bloodshed," he said, adding that he had personally witnessed officials using fire equipment to "invade" his home's security perimeter.

On Wednesday afternoon, investigators said that Yoon remained silent throughout the interrogation. Yoon's lawyers stated that his arrest was "illegal" because the CIO, as an anti-corruption body, has no authority to investigate the insurrection charges against Yoon. They also claimed that the arrest warrant was issued by the wrong jurisdiction. However, the same court subsequently rejected President Yoon’s injunction to revoke the arrest warrant, and authorities insist the warrant was lawful.

Park Chan-dae, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, said Wednesday’s arrest showed that "justice in South Korea still exists." He said at a party meeting that the arrest "is the first step in restoring constitutional order, democracy, and the rule of law." Currently, South Korea is led by Finance Minister Choe Sang-mok as acting president. Previously, the first acting president, Han Duck-soo, was also impeached by the National Assembly, where the opposition holds a majority.

For Yoon, the clock is ticking for investigators. Under the current arrest warrant, they can detain Yoon for a maximum of 48 hours after his arrest, after which a new arrest warrant is required to keep him in custody while the investigation continues. If a new arrest warrant is approved, they can detain him for a maximum of 20 days before bringing him to court. If a new arrest warrant is not issued, Yoon must be released. Late on Wednesday, local media reported that Yoon was questioned at the CIO office until 9:40 PM, after which he was transferred to the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, about 5 kilometers away.

Supporters of Yoon continued to protest the arrest outside the CIO office. They had gathered outside his home before dawn on Wednesday, alongside those who opposed him. When his arrest was announced, the anti-Yoon crowd sang "congratulations and celebration" songs, cheering what they viewed as a victory for law enforcement. However, Yoon's supporters were dismayed. "We are very frustrated and angry. The rule of law has collapsed," one supporter told the BBC. Meanwhile, there were reports of a man setting himself on fire near the CIO office, but it is unclear if the incident was related to Yoon's arrest.

The contrasting scenes between the two camps on Wednesday reflect the country's growing polarization, with a long-standing division between conservatives and progressives. The political drama has also pitted two branches of the executive against each other: law enforcement officers holding a valid arrest warrant and the president's security personnel, who said they were obligated to protect the suspended president. As Yoon faces questioning on the charges, the nation remains shrouded in uncertainty, with growing political divisions and no clear resolution.

South Korea has been in political turmoil since Yoon issued a brief but shocking martial law order on December 3rd, with many lawmakers scaling fences and barriers to enter the National Assembly to vote down the order. The president said he was protecting the country from "anti-state" forces sympathetic to North Korea, but it quickly became clear he was motivated by his own political predicament. Yoon has been a lame-duck president since the opposition won a landslide victory in the general election last April, with his government only able to veto bills proposed by the opposition.

In the following weeks, the National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon, and he was subsequently suspended from office, with authorities launching a criminal investigation into the attempt. Several senior national leaders, including former Defense Minister Kim Young-hyun, who reportedly advised the declaration of martial law, as well as Yoon’s political aides, have since resigned. Tens of thousands of South Koreans have also taken to the streets in recent weeks braving the cold, with some showing support for Yoon and others calling for his removal. Meanwhile, Yoon had been holed up in his residence, refusing to comply with multiple summons to be questioned, a defiant stance that led to his arrest.

Separately, the Constitutional Court has begun deliberations to decide whether he should be permanently removed from office, with observers suggesting a ruling could come as early as February. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.