Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested and questioned by authorities in relation to a felony revolt investigation on Wednesday, saying he was solely co-operating with what he referred to as an unlawful probe to keep away from violence.
The occasion marks the primary time an incumbent South Korean president has been arrested, though the democracy has a historical past of prosecuting and imprisoning former leaders.
Since lawmakers voted to face Yoon down after his short-lived declaration of martial regulation on Dec. 3, the president has been holed up at his hillside residence, guarded by a small military of non-public safety that blocked a earlier arrest try.
He agreed to return in for questioning after greater than 3,000 cops decided to arrest him marched on his residence within the early hours of Wednesday.
“I made a decision to answer the CIO’s investigation — regardless of it being an unlawful investigation — to stop unsavoury bloodshed,” Yoon mentioned in an announcement, referring to the Corruption Investigation Workplace for Excessive-ranking Officers (CIO) that’s heading the felony probe.
Yoon not chatting with investigators
A prosecutor accompanied Yoon in his automotive from his house within the upscale space referred to as Seoul’s Beverly Hills to the austere CIO workplaces, the place he slipped in by a again entrance, avoiding media.
Authorities now have 48 hours to query Yoon, after which they need to both launch him or search a warrant to detain him for as much as 20 days.
Nevertheless, Yoon is refusing to speak and has not agreed to have interviews with investigators recorded on video, a CIO official mentioned. The CIO mentioned it had no info on why Yoon was refusing to speak.
Yoon’s attorneys have mentioned the arrest warrant is illegitimate as a result of it was issued by a courtroom within the unsuitable jurisdiction and the group set as much as examine him had no authorized mandate to take action.
A warrant to look Yoon at his residence, a duplicate of which was seen by Reuters, referred to Yoon as “ringleader of revolt.”
Presidential guards have been stationed on the CIO flooring the place Yoon is being questioned, mentioned a CIO official, however he’ll probably be held at Seoul Detention Centre, the place different high-profile figures, together with former president Park Geun-hye and Samsung Electronics chairman Jay Y. Lee, have additionally hung out.
Courtroom deliberate Yoon’s future
Yoon’s declaration of martial regulation shocked South Koreans, rattled Asia’s fourth largest economic system and ushered in an unprecedented interval of political turmoil in certainly one of Washington’s key safety companions within the area.
Lawmakers voted to question him and take away him from duties shortly after, on Dec. 14.
Separate to the felony investigation, the nation’s Constitutional Courtroom is deliberating whether or not to uphold his impeachment by parliament and completely take away him from workplace or restore his presidential powers.
America stays dedicated to working with the federal government in Seoul and appreciates all its efforts and residents “to behave in accordance with the structure,” a spokesperson for the White Home Nationwide Safety Council mentioned in an announcement.
The highest authorities spokesperson in neighbouring Japan, Yoshimasa Hayashi, informed a each day information briefing that Tokyo was following developments in South Korea “with specific and severe curiosity.”
Supporters invoke Trump
The most recent arrest try that started earlier than daybreak gripped the nation, with a whole lot of 1000’s glued to stay feeds exhibiting busloads of police arriving close to the presidential residence, pushing previous Yoon supporters and strolling towards the gates of the compound carrying ladders and wire cutters.
As native information broadcasters reported that Yoon’s detention was imminent, some minor scuffles broke out between pro-Yoon protesters and police close to the residence, in keeping with a Reuters witness on the scene.
Throngs of protesters, who additionally gathered exterior the CIO workplaces, waved South Korean and American flags and held posters bearing “Cease the Steal” slogans, referring to Yoon’s unsubstantiated claims of election fraud — one of many causes he gave to justify his short-lived martial regulation declaration.
A few of Yoon’s supporters have drawn parallels together with his plight and that of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, who additionally claimed voter fraud contributed to his election defeat in 2020, however recovered to make a surprising political comeback.
“It is vitally unhappy to see our nation falling aside,” mentioned Kim Woo-sub, a 70-year-old retiree protesting Yoon’s arrest exterior his residence on Wednesday.
“I nonetheless have excessive expectations for Trump to assist our president. Election fraud is one thing they’ve in frequent, but additionally the U.S. wants South Korea to battle China,” he mentioned.
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