E-Paper
‘Ladders, bolt cutters’: How South Korean investigators arrested impeached President Yoon
Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached last month, is the first sitting president in the nation's history to be arrested.
Using ladders and bolt cutters to wade through the obstacles put up, South Korean authorities on Wednesday arrested impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested over his failed martial law bid, ending a weeks-long standoff.
Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached and charged with insurrection over his short-lived effort to impose martial law last month, is the first sitting president in the nation's history to be arrested.
This was the second attempt by authorities to arrest Yoon. Earlier, on January 3, a first attempt to arrest the impeached president failed after a tense hours-long standoff with members of Yoon's official Presidential Security Service (PSS), who refused to budge when investigators tried to execute their warrant.
In a video message recorded shortly before he was escorted to the headquarters of the anti-corruption agency, Yoon lamented the “rule of law has completely collapsed in this country.”
Besides Yoon, the investigators also arrested Kim Sung-hoon, the acting chief of the Presidential Security Service, for blocking their initial attempt to arrest the impeached president, according to Yonhap news agency.
How Yoon was arrested
Yoon had been holed up in the Hannam-dong residence in Seoul for weeks while vowing to “fight to the end” the efforts to oust him, according to the Associated Press.
Also Read | South Korean police question security chief of impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol
Earlier today, the anti-corruption investigators and police officers arrived at Yoon's residence and were involved in hourslong standoff at the compound’s gate with presidential security forces.
According to AP, police officers were seen using wire cutters to remove the barbed wire placed by the presidential security service on the perimeter of the compound to block their entry.
Some police officers used ladders to climb over rows of buses blocking the compound’s entrance, and then the investigators began moving up the hilly compound.
The investigators and police later arrived in front of a metal gate with a gold presidential mark that’s near Yoon’s residential building.
After a standoff of about five hours, authorities announced Yoon had been arrested and the impeached leader released a pre-recorded video message.
"I decided to respond to the Corruption Investigation Office," Yoon said in the message, according to AFP, adding that he did not accept the legality of the investigation but was complying "to prevent any unfortunate bloodshed".
