
South Korean impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at the complex building housing the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) in Gwacheon on January 15, 2025.KOREA POOL/AFP via Getty Images
THE NEW YORK POST | Published January 15, 2025
South Korean authorities arrested impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday over insurrection accusations related to his Dec. 3 martial law declaration, investigators said.
A motorcade was seen leaving the gates of his hillside residence where Yoon has been holed up for weeks behind barbed wire barriers and a small army of personal security.
Earlier more than 3,000 police officers and anti-corruption investigators had gathered there before dawn, pushing through throngs of Yoon supporters and members of his ruling People Power Party protesting attempts to detain him.
Yoon’s lawyers have argued attempts to detain Yoon are illegal and are designed to publicly humiliate him. The warrant investigators secured for his arrest is the first ever issued against an incumbent South Korean president.
Some police officers were later seen successfully entering the residence.
There are ongoing investigations on Yoon’s brief martial law declaration on Dec. 3
Yoon previously evaded multiple requests to appear for questioning.REUTERS
Police officers enter the compound of the presidential residence of impeached South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on January 15, 2025AFP via Getty Images
As local news broadcasters reported that Yoon’s detention may come soon, some minor scuffles broke out between tearful pro-Yoon protesters and police near the residence, according to a Reuters witness at the scene.
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SOURCE: www.nypost.com
RELATED: SKorean Law Enforcement Detains Impeached President Yoon
NEWSMAX | Published January 15, 2025
South Korea’s impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was detained in a major law enforcement operation at the presidential compound Wednesday, defiantly insisting the anti-corruption agency did not have the authority to investigate his actions but saying he complied to prevent violence.
Yoon, the country’s first sitting president to be apprehended, now faces the prospect of a lengthy prison term over potential rebellion charges.
In a video message recorded shortly before he was escorted to the headquarters of the anti-corruption agency, Yoon lamented the “rule of law has completely collapsed in this country.”
Yoon had been holed up in the Hannam-dong residence in the capital, Seoul, for weeks while vowing to “fight to the end” the efforts to oust him. He has justified his declaration of martial law Dec. 3 as a legitimate act of governance against an “anti-state” opposition employing its legislative majority to thwart his agenda.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials said Yoon was brought into custody about five hours after investigators arrived at the presidential compound and about three hours after they successfully entered the residence, in their second attempt to detain him over his imposition of martial law.
A series of black SUVs, some equipped with sirens, were seen leaving the presidential compound with police escorts. Yoon was later seen stepping out of a vehicle after arriving at the agency’s office in the nearby city of Gwacheon. Following questioning, Yoon was expected to be sent to a detention center in Uiwang, near Seoul.
Yoon could be held in custody for weeks, possibly even months or longer.
The anti-corruption agency, which is leading a joint investigation with the police and the military over whether Yoon’s martial law declaration amounted to an attempted rebellion, has 48 hours to request a court order for his formal arrest on a charge of attempting a rebellion.
If it fails to do so, Yoon will be released. If Yoon is formally arrested, investigators can extend his detention to 20 days before transferring the case to public prosecutors for indictment.
If prosecutors indict Yoon on rebellion and abuse of power charges, which are the allegations examined by investigators, he could possibly remain under arrest until the initial court ruling, which is typically made within six months, said Park Sung-bae, an attorney specializing in criminal law.
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SOURCE: www.newsmax.com
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