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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – JANUARY 15: Investigators arrive at the entrance to the presidential residence of Yoon Suk Yeol, as authorities seek to execute an arrest warrant, in Seoul, South Korea, on January 15 January 2025.
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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol he was arrested by the country’s Corruption Investigation Bureau for High-Ranking officials, a first for a sitting South Korean leader.
This was the second bid to arrest the impeached president, following a failed attempt on January 3 when agents of South Korea’s Presidential Security Service prevented investigators from entering Yoon’s residence.
About 3,000 police officers were involved in the second attempt to secure access to Yoon’s compound, Yonhap news agency reported.
South Korean media too Yoon said in a pre-recorded video he said “the law of the land has collapsed”, and called the IOC’s investigation “illegal”. Yoon said he will appear before the IOC to “prevent unpleasant bloodshed,” according to a Google translation of the Korean reports.
South Korean shares had a muted reaction to the news, along with the blue-chip Kospi up 0.21% and the small-cap Kosdaq down 0.44%.
The won weakened slightly against the US dollar, and was last traded at 1,459.75. The yield on South Korean benchmark 10-year bonds also rose.
The IOC had originally requested the arrest warrant after Yoon failed to show up for questioning, which was granted on December 31 by a Seoul District Court. The warrant was extended after it initially expired on January 6.
Yoon faces sedition charges after his failed declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, a charge that is not subject to presidential immunity and carries the maximum death penalty.
Yoon made a surprise late-night broadcast and declared martial law last month, citing the need to protect the country from “North Korean communist forces” and “anti-state forces.” It was the first time martial law was declared in South Korea in more than 40 years.
Lawmakers later managed to get past police barricades and voted the statement to the country’s parliament, before filing impeachment motions against Yoon a few days later. Yoon was impeached on December 14 and suspended from office.
The Constitutional Court of South Korea has he opened the impeachment process on January 14 against Yoon, but postponed it to January 16 after Yoon did not return.
