IThat was the end of a confrontation that ranged from bizarre to downright embarrassing. Early Wednesday, hundreds of investigators finally gained access to the martial law compound in Seoul where South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol has been holed up since mid-December after he was impeached for earlier declaring martial law, and prosecutors believe the Martial law amounts to rebellion.
In executing the arrest warrant - the first against a sitting South Korean president - law enforcement officials avoided a repeat of the tense scenes on January 3, when they were prevented from being detained by Yoon's security personnel for five and a half hours. A harsh retreat at the end. Yoon remained defiant in agreeing to comply with investigators' demands, insisting in a video message that he surrendered only to "avoid bloodshed" after earlier clashes between police and his supporters.
"President Yoon decided to appear in person at the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) today," President Yoon's lawyer Seok Dong-hyeon posted on Facebook. Television footage showed a convoy of vehicles leaving the presidential palace. Under South Korean law, Yoon can be detained and interrogated for 48 hours, which includes his scheduled court appearance.
Yoon's detention marks the latest chapter in a confusing series of events since the declaration of martial law on December 3, when he became the first South Korean to put the country under military rule since democratization in the late 1980s. leader. The opposition-led National Assembly quickly rejected the move, prompting the embattled president to send in armed forces to try to seize the legislature and detain his political opponents. Prosecutors said it amounted to rebellion - a crime punishable by life imprisonment or even death in South Korea.
Since then, Yoon has been sequestered behind his hilltop fortress in Seoul's trendy Hannam-dong district, known as "Korea's Beverly Hills" and whose residents include tycoons and K-pop royalty. Yoon was the first South Korean in modern times to refuse to live in the centuries-old Blue House, denouncing it as a symbol of imperial decadence and instead spent huge sums of money to controversially renovate the former foreign minister's official residence.
What happens next is unclear. While the criminal investigation into Yoon is progressing, South Korea's Constitutional Court is considering whether an impeachment vote and removal from office is legal. Whatever the final outcome, the incident has rocked South Korean politics and stoked fears among allies, including the United States, at a time when regional power dynamics are changing.
Old foe North Korea has been sending troops to help Ukraine's Vladimir Putin and hone its ballistic missile capabilities, while China has been aggressively building up its military capabilities. Meanwhile, incoming U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly questioned the value of the U.S. alliance in East Asia.
In addition to Yin, senior officials under investigation include the former secretary of defense, the commander of Army Special Operations Command, and the commander of the Defense Intelligence Command, raising huge questions about the country's security preparedness.
Speaking of China and North Korea, Daniel Pinkston, a visiting professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, said the continued unrest in South Korea is "good for them." "The question is how far they want to exploit it."
Yin's impeachment also caused huge divisions in the country. Dozens of Yoon supporters gathered as police officers with "Police" and "Chief Information Officer" emblazoned on their jackets used ladders to climb over buses blocking access to Yoon's residential complex and tried to gain access via a nearby hiking trail. Insults at the door. Many waved American flags and banners and demanded "get rid of the Chinese Communist Party," debunked claims that the Chinese Communist Party rigged the election. Meanwhile, a group of anti-Yin protesters cheered on the authorities as they entered the compound.
To this day, observers remain in the dark about Mr. Yin’s failed attempt to seize power. Representing the conservative People's Power party, he was already a lame-duck president after the opposition Democratic Party won a legislative majority in elections earlier this year. His scandal-plagued five-year term ends in 2027 and he is unlikely to be re-elected due to term limits, although he has chosen to plunge South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades, rekindling memories of the dark days of military rule and shaking the nation. The foundation of a vibrant democracy of 50 million people.
“Everyone is still scratching their heads,” Pinkston said. "What's the logic of this? What's the end game? Nothing good comes out of it. It's really confusing."