South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested Wednesday by the country's corruption investigation unit for senior officials, a primary for a sitting South Korean leader.
This was the second try to arrest the accused president, following a failed attempt on January 3 when agents from South Korea's presidential security service blocked investigators from entering Yoon's residence.
Unlike the primary attempt, “this time no people or security forces actively prevented the execution and there were no significant physical clashes,” the CIO said.
About 3,000 police were involved within the second try to secure access to Yoon's compound, Yonhap news agency said.
Also South Korean media Yoon reported in a pre-recorded video said that “the law of the land has collapsed” and called the CIO’s investigation “illegal.” According to a Google translation of the reports in Korean, Yoon said he would seem before the CIO to “prevent unpleasant bloodshed.”
South Korean stocks reacted mutedly to the news, as did the blue chip Kospi rose 0.21% and the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.44%.
The won weakened barely against the US dollar and was last quoted at 1,459.75. The yield on South Korea's 10-year benchmark bonds also rose.
The CIO originally requested the arrest warrant after Yoon failed to seem for questioning, which was granted by a Seoul district court on December 31. The warrant was then prolonged after originally expiring on January sixth.
Yoon may face rebellion charges following his short-lived declaration of martial law on December 3, a charge that shouldn’t be subject to presidential immunity and carries the utmost death penalty.
Yoon made a surprise late-night broadcast last month and declared martial law, citing the necessity to protect the country from “North Korean communist forces” and “anti-state forces.” This was the primary time martial law was declared in South Korea in over 40 years.
Lawmakers then managed to beat police barricades and reject the statement within the country's parliament before filing impeachment proceedings against Yoon just a few days later. Yoon was charged and suspended from office on December 14.
South Korea's Constitutional Court has opened the impeachment proceedings on January 14th against Yoon, but was postponed to January sixteenth after Yoon failed to point out up.
image credit : www.cnbc.com