Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was arrested yesterday over his failed martial law bid, ending a weeks-long standoff with authorities and becoming the first president to be detained in the nation’s history.
Yoon, who faces charges of insurrection over his short-lived effort to impose martial law last month, said he would comply with investigators to avoid “bloodshed.”
A former prosecutor who led the conservative People Power Party (PPP) to election victory in 2022, Yoon could face the death penalty or life in jail if found guilty of insurrection.
Photo: Bloomberg
He had sought to evade arrest for weeks by remaining in his residential compound, protected by members of the Presidential Security Service who had remained loyal to him.
His guards had installed barbed wire and barricades at the residence, turning it into what the opposition called a “fortress.”
Yoon, who had vowed to “fight to the end,” managed to thwart a first arrest attempt on Jan. 3 following a tense hours-long impasse between the guards and anti-graft investigators working with police.
However, before dawn yesterday, hundreds of police officers and investigators from the South Korean Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) again surrounded the residence, some scaling perimeter walls and hiking up back trails to reach the main 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, adding that he did not accept the legality of the investigation, but was complying “to prevent any unfortunate bloodshed.”
Yoon left his residence in a convoy and was taken to the offices of the CIO.
Investigators began questioning Yoon shortly after his arrest, but they said he had exercised “his right to remain silent.”
He refused to be filmed during questioning, a CIO official told reporters, adding that Yoon would spend the night at a detention center.
In a later Facebook post that Yoon said he wrote while holed up in his residence, he repeated election fraud claims and spoke of “hostile” nations attacking the country, alluding to North Korea.
Yoon shocked the nation late on Dec. 3 last year when he declared martial law, claiming he needed to safeguard South Korea “from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and eliminate anti-state elements.”
He deployed troops to parliament, but lawmakers defied them and voted against martial law. Yoon revoked martial law after just six hours. Yoon can be held for up to 48 hours following yesterday’s arrest. Investigators would need to apply for another arrest warrant to keep him in custody.
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not