Anxious to avoid “bloodshed” between the law enforcement officers who came to arrest him for his declaration of martial law and his Presidential Security Service (PSS), South Korea’s conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol, agreed to surrender on Wednesday, January 15. He traveled to the headquarters of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, where he was taken into custody for 48 hours, which could lead to his indictment. Questioning on insurrection charges has begun and Yoon will spend the night in a Seoul prison. It is the first time a sitting president has been arrested in South Korea.
His decision to surrender put an end to a tense morning at the president’s office. Nearly 4,000 police officers, including some from special units, were mobilized to support the CIO agents engaged in his arrest, a high-risk operation given the mobilization of his supporters and the determination of the PSS to protect him.
Arriving at the presidential residence at 4:20 am, law enforcement officers entered the site. The operation continued for over three hours until Yoon made the decision. “To avoid an unfortunate and violent incident, I have decided to appear before the CIO, even though I believe the investigation is illegal,” said the conservative president in a video message recorded at his residence in Yongsan, central Seoul.
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