January 15, 2025
Seoul – A joint investigative team took South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol into custody at 10:33 a.m. on Wednesday, 12 days after their first attempt to detain him was rebuffed, according to police and the Office for the Investigation of Corruption of Senior Officials.
Yoon arrived at the CIO headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, in December to be questioned about its martial law order.
Yoon, 64, became the first sitting president in South Korea's history to be detained. Within the next 48 hours, Yoon will be held at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang City, Gyeonggi Province, 16 kilometers south of Yoon's residence. He was detained 43 days after martial law was suddenly declared on December 3, plunging the country into an unprecedented political crisis.
Immediately after Yoon was detained, his representatives released a pre-recorded statement from the president. In it, Yin said he complied not because he “recognized the (legality) of the procedure” but because he wanted to prevent violent confrontations. He said the information chief's investigation and execution of the arrest warrant were illegal and invalid.
A warrant was also issued for Kim Sung-hoon, acting chief of the Presidential Security Service, who led Yoon's bodyguards in blocking investigators from entering the presidential palace.
Thousands of members of the joint investigation team passed three roadblocks on their way from the main entrance of Yun's residence to Yun's residence. These roadblocks were set up by Yoon's security to prevent investigators from entering the presidential palace.
When a joint investigation team composed of police and the chief information officer arrived before dawn, Yoon's legal representatives reiterated their claim that the extended court warrant was invalid.
Speaking at the scene of the confrontation, they said the attempt to serve a search warrant violated Sections 110 and 111 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibits unauthorized access to secret military affairs premises, including the presidential palace. Conduct a seizure and search.
At least 20 lawmakers from the ruling People's Power Party, including Reps. Yoon Sang-hyun and Kim Ki-hyun, were also at the scene before dawn on Wednesday. Rep. King condemned the investigation as “insulting, humiliating and bullying to the president.”
After the joint investigation team arrived, about 6,500 people held a rally in support of Yoon near the president's official residence, according to police. At least one person was reportedly injured during the rally but declined hospitalization.
It was the second attempt to detain Yoon by a joint investigative team seeking to charge him with crimes including abuse of power and rebellion.
In a previous attempt on January 3, about 150 investigators and police tried to detain Yin, but were outnumbered by about 200 Presidential Security Service and military personnel who formed a human wall. Investigators eventually evacuated the presidential palace due to safety concerns.
According to reports, senior officers from the police mobile detective team, drug investigation team and anti-corruption investigation team were dispatched to execute the arrest warrant and were divided into two teams to detain Yin and handle the confrontation with the Public Security Bureau.
Police are also reportedly considering measures to arrest anyone who obstructs the investigation team's investigation, including deputy director of the Public Security Bureau Kim Sung-hoon and bodyguard unit chief Lee Kwang-woo, who had detention orders issued against them on Tuesday night.
But the PSB said the same thing about people trying to execute arrest warrants, as the chief information officer and the PSB argued over access to the presidential palace on Tuesday night.
The chief information officer announced that the 55th Security Brigade, the military unit responsible for guarding the perimeter of the presidential palace, agreed to allow investigators to enter a total of 11 areas around Yoon's official residence.
However, the 55th Security Brigade is controlled by the PSS, which denied the national anti-corruption agency's claims, saying it had not yet approved the investigators' visit.
The CIO acknowledged that it had received two official documents from the 55th Security Brigade – a joint detection force entry approval document confirmed by the unit's commander, and a statement notifying the CIO that it needed additional authorization from the PSS because of the Military forces cannot grant full entry approval on their own.
“The access approval of the 55th Guards Brigade is valid. However, another approval from the security department is required,” the chief information officer said.
Yoon's legal team warned on Tuesday that the chief information officer not only executed an invalid arrest warrant but also conducted an unconstitutional investigation and spread false information.
Lawyers said the JIT's entry into the presidential palace had not yet been approved and warned that the JIT would be detained on suspicion of trespassing in the area, which is designated as a military installation.
Rep. Kwon Sung-sung, the floor leader of Yoon's ruling People's Power Party, reportedly told reporters that the joint investigation team should cease operations on Wednesday morning, claiming that the CIO had no authority to investigate the rebellion accusations and that his arrest warrant was invalid. .
An earlier attempt by authorities to detain the president was suspended after a five-hour standoff with the police.
Yin's extended detention order on charges related to the brief period of martial law is reportedly set to expire on January 21.
