South Korean investigators detain impeached President, Media reports
Photo: Yoon Suk Yeol (Getty Images)
Today, investigators arrived at the residence of South Korea's suspended President, Yoon Suk Yeol, to make a second attempt at arresting him. This time, law enforcement officers succeeded in detaining the head of state, the Yonhap News reports.
According to the media resource, investigators detained Yoon, who had been impeached, at his residence on Wednesday. He was then taken for questioning regarding the brief military state of emergency he declared in December.
As the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) informs, the arrest warrant for the suspended President was executed at 10:33 a.m. In particular, ladders were used to climb through the residence windows for the arrest.
"Live TV footage showed a convoy of vehicles presumably carrying Yoon leaving the presidential residence compound in central Seoul to head to the CIO office in Gwacheon, south of Seoul," the media states.
Prior to this, the politician had been hiding in the residence for weeks, not stepping outside or appearing for questioning. Furthermore, the President's security service and the military had blocked the entrances to the residence, both this time and previously, to prevent his arrest.
The media noted that this was the first time in South Korean history that a temporarily suspended yet sitting President had been arrested.
What preceded this
On December 3, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in the country. It lasted about six hours and, according to media reports, was not related to a military threat but purely to political motives. Soon afterward, Yoon apologized for making such a decision.
However, on December 14, South Korea's parliament impeached Yoon. This was the second vote, as the first one on December 7 had failed.
At the beginning of January, investigators came to Yoon's residence to execute the arrest warrant issued by the court. However, the security service prevented them from doing so.
Since the warrant's validity had expired, the court issued a new one. Around this time, the media reported that the President had barricaded himself inside the residence, as law enforcement had promised to arrest him.
As recently reported, Yoon would not attend the first official hearing in the impeachment case. The reason for this was his concerns about his safety.
