President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested and imprisoned on Sunday on charges of leading a rebellion linked to his declaration of martial law on December 3. In just 47 days after martial law was declared on December 3 last year, this is the first time in South Korea’s constitutional history that a sitting president has been arrested.
Seoul Western District Court Judge Cha Eun-kyung issued an arrest warrant at around 2:50 a.m. on Sunday for President Yoon, who is suspected of leading a rebellion and abusing his power. The court specified concerns about destroying evidence as the reason for the arrest.
President Yoon appeared in person at the warrant review on Saturday, speaking for 45 minutes that “martial law was a decision and an act of governance to normalize state administration,” which the court did not accept. Aside from concerns about the destruction of evidence, the degree of explanation of criminal charges is crucial in the court issuing an arrest warrant. Some in the legal community view that the court judged that the legal charges of President Yoon’s leading rebellion have been proven.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High Ranking Officials (CIO), which arrested President Yoon, plans to conduct additional investigations and transfer President Yoon to the prosecution around Friday, as the CIO does not have the power to prosecute the President. The prosecution is expected to conduct a supplementary investigation, arrest, and indict President Yoon around Feb. 5. The CIO and the prosecution have agreed that the detention period for rebellion suspects will be 20 days.
President Yoon's lawyers issued a statement titled, "The rule of law is no longer respected, and legal conscience no longer exists.” "The arrest warrant that was issued was so absurd that it is difficult to say that we respect the judiciary's judgment." People Power Party Emergency Response Committee Chairman Kwon Young-se said, "If charges against Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, he should be equally arrested for the sake of the principle of fairness.” Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Korea welcomed the ruling, calling it a “reasonable ruling befitting the leader of the rebellion which was witnessed by the entire nation.” Lee did not directly mention President Yoon's arrest on this day.
송유근 big@donga.com