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A photo of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arriving at the Corruption Investigation Office a few hours earlier is shown during a news broadcast on a television screen seen at a bus station in Seoul on January 15, 2025, after Yoon became the first sitting president to be detained in the nation's history. Impeached South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on January 15 over his failed martial law bid, ending a weeks-long standoff with authorities and becoming the first sitting president to be detained in the nation's history. [Photo: VCG]
The operation to arrest Yoon began at approximately 5:10 a.m., when CIO investigators and police presented arrest and search warrants to Yoon’s legal team at the residence. They then proceeded with the enforcement process.
In contrast to the first attempt to execute the arrest warrant on Jan. 3, the Presidential Security Service reportedly did not interfere with the warrant’s execution this time.
The CIO, working with a joint investigation team of police officers, announced that the warrant was enforced at 10:33 a.m. A motorcade believed to be transporting President Yoon departed the presidential residence to the CIO headquarters.
In a prerecorded video message released shortly after his arrest, President Yoon claimed again that the investigation of him was illegal, and that he was only complying with it to prevent what he called “disgraceful bloodshed."
Yoon said that "After seeing investigators using firefighting equipment to invade a secure area today, I've decided to accept the CIO's investigation -- even though it is illegal, just to prevent disgraceful bloodshed.”
The CIO, an independent investigative body that specializes on probing high-ranking officials, was authorized to arrest Yoon last month by the warrant issued by the Seoul Western District Court on Dec. 31. The joint investigative team attempted to carry out the warrant on Jan. 3, but was blocked in an over five hour-long standoff with about 200 presidential bodyguards and military personnel forming a human barricade.
Yoon declared emergency martial law on Dec. 3 and is alleged to have given illegal orders to his military commanders during the state of martial law.
The martial law command had mobilized the military to block off the National Assembly, raid the National Election Commission and arrest a list of prominent political figures and outspoken critics, allegedly under Yoon’s orders.
The suspended president is under criminal investigation following his impeachment by the National Assembly on Dec. 15, He is accused of leading an insurrection and committing abuse of power.
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