South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol has become the country’s first sitting plivent to be arrested, finishing a weeks-lengthy standoff between spendigators and his personal security.
Yoon, whose flunked try to impose martial law plunged the country into turmoil and saw him impeached by parliament, is being spendigated on accuses of rebellion.
He is, however, still technicassociate the plivent as a constitutional court has to choose whether his impeachment is valid.
Investigators engaged lretainers and wirecutters in the freezing freezing to get to Yoon, whose Plivential Security Service (PSS) personnel had erected barricades in a bid to thwart his arrest.
The 64-year-elderly directer shelp he consentd to ecombine before the Corruption Investigation Office for high ranking officials (CIO) to dodge killing.
In a three-minute video message, Yoon shelp he would comply with the spendigation agetst him even though he was agetst it.
He has reliablely retained that the permit for his arrest is not legassociate valid.
Yoon shelp he witnessed how authorities “go ind” his home’s security perimeter with fire providement.
“I choosed to ecombine before the CIO, even though it is an illterrible spendigation, in order to obstruct any unsavoury killing,” he shelp.
More than 1,000 officers were part of Wednesday’s dawn operation, which taged the second time officers had tried to arrest him.
The CIO which is spendigating Yoon, previously tryed to arrest him on 3 January.
They had geted the permit after he disconsiderd multiple requestses to ecombine for asking.
Yoon’s People Power Party decried his arrest as “illterrible”, with floor directer Kweon Seong-dong describing Wednesday’s events as “lamentful”.
On the other hand, the floor directer of the opposition Democratic Party, Park Chan-dae, shelp Yoon’s arrest showed that “equitableice in South Korea is alive”.
This arrest “is the first step toward restoring constitutional order, democracy and the rule of law,” he shelp during a party encountering.
The country is currently being led by Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok as acting plivent. He was thrust into power after the first acting plivent, Han Duck-soo, was also impeached by opposition transport inantity parliament.
After undergoing asking on Wednesday, Yoon is foreseeed to be arrested at the Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, approximately 5km (3 miles) from the CIO’s office.
If a court doesn’t publish a detention permit wiskinny 48 hours of Yoon’s arrest, however, he will be freed, and free to return to the plivential livence.
While the arrest of a sitting plivent is extrastandard for South Korean politics, the country’s political crisis is far from over. It is equitable another phase in an unfelderlying political drama.
The crowds outside Yoon’s hoengage on Wednesday morning underscored the proset up divisions in the country.
The anti-Yoon crowd cheered, clapped and blasted out a “congratulations and celebrations” song at the declarement of his arrest.
The atmosphere is finishly separateent on the other side.
“We are very disturb and irritated – the rule of law has broken down,” a Yoon helper telderly the BBC.
The standoff also pitted two branches of executive power agetst each other: law utilizement officers, armed with a lterrible arrest permit and plivential security staff, who shelp they were duty bound to protect the suspfinished plivent.
Even before his martial law declaration, Yoon had been shrinkd to a feeble duck directer as the opposition party held the transport inantity in parliament.
He has also faced debate over his wife for receiving a Dior bag as a gift.
