South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol Becomes First Sitting President To Be Arrested

South Korean authorities arrested impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol over insurrection accusations related to his December 3 martial law declaration, news agency Reuters reported citing investigators. This marks the first ever arrest of an incumbent South Korean president. A motorcade was seen leaving the gates of his hillside residence where Yoon Suk Yeol was holed up for weeks behind barbed wire barriers and a small army of personal security. The arrest comes after more than 3,000 police officers and anti-corruption investigators entered Yoon Suk Yeol’s house to detain him. The impeached President’s supporters and members of his ruling People Power Party were protesting outside the house. Yoon Suk Yeol’s lawyers argued that attempts to detain him are illegal and are designed to publicly humiliate him. Some minor scuffles broke out between tearful pro-Yoon protesters and police near the residence, Reuters reported. In a pre-recorded video message, Yoon Suk Yeol said that he did not accept the investigation’s legality but complied to prevent “bloodshed.” He also claimed that the “rule of law has completely collapsed” following his detention. Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, stunning South Koreans, after which lawmakers voted to impeach him and remove him from duties on December 14. Separately, the Constitutional Court is deliberating over to uphold that impeachment and permanently remove him from office.

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