Source : the age
By Lisa Visentin
South Korean authorities have arrested impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration, marking the first time a sitting leader has been arrested in the country’s history.
The arrest followed a joint police and corruption operation that began before dawn on Wednesday local time when hundreds of law enforcement officials and investigators began arriving at Yoon’s hillside villa in Seoul, where he had been holed up for weeks.
Authorities had a court-ordered arrest warrant to detain Yoon for questioning over whether his December 3 martial law decree amounted to insurrection after he refused to comply with multiple summons for questioning.
Police officers stand guard as supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol protest near the presidential residence in Seoul.Credit: Bloomberg
Police used ladders to climb over a barricade of buses set up by the Presidential Security Service (PSS) and could be seen moving up the hilly compound.
Yoon and his legal team have maintained the arrest is illegal, and he has vowed to “fight to the end” to resist what he has called “anti-state forces” seeking to remove him from power.
The operation was jointly carried out by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and police. Yonhap News Agency reported as many as 3000 police officers have been deployed to secure the compound.
President Yoon’s botched attempt to bring in martial law triggered a furious backlash in South Korea.Credit: AP
More than 6000 Pro-Yoon supporters amassed in the street outside the presidential residence, Yonhap said, adding to fears that the volatile situation could turn violent. For weeks, thousands of anti-Yoon protesters have also rallied in the streets, calling for the president to be arrested and removed from office.
As the situation unfolded, South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok warned government authorities against using violence.
“All the people and the international community are watching this,” he said in a statement. “We cannot tolerate physical violence for any purposes because it will irreparably damage the trust of the people and our international reputation.”
“I will sternly hold those responsible if unfortunate events occur.”
The arrest comes after an initial foiled attempt on January 3, which resulted in a more than week-long stand-off between investigators and the PSS, which has formed a ballast of defence around Yoon, helping to barricade him inside the residence.
Yoon supporters shout slogans during a Seoul rally opposing his impeachment.Credit: AP
On Friday, the chief of the PSS resigned after he submitted to police questioning over obstruction of public duty allegations for his role in blocking investigators from arresting Yoon.
Yoon has been suspended from his presidential duties since he was impeached by the opposition-dominated parliament on December 14 in response to his botched bid to impose martial law. He faces a separate Constitutional Court process, which began this week to determine whether the impeachment should be upheld or dismissed, with the outcome determining whether he remains in office.
Instability drags on
The martial law decree, ordered by Yoon in frustration at the opposition stymying his political agenda and blocking budget legislation, shocked the country and plunged it into its worst political crisis in decades. It marked the first time South Korea had come under military rule since its transition to democracy in the late 1980s.
Yoon withdrew the decree hours later after the parliament voted to reject it, and outraged protesters descended on the streets. But the instability has dragged on for more than a month, intensified by Yoon’s refusal to cooperate with authorities and the move by opposition MPs to impeach the acting president, Han Duck-soo, just two weeks after assuming duties from Yoon.
Yoon’s lawyer Yoon Kab-keun could be seen on Wednesday morning talking to investigating officials in black uniforms in front of Yoon’s compound, video footage showed.
Lawyers for Yoon have maintained the arrest warrant was illegal because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction, and the team set up to investigate him had no legal mandate to do so.
Oh Dong-woon, head of the CIO leading the investigation, has said authorities would do whatever it takes to bring Yoon into custody.
With agencies
