South Korea, police manage to arrest President Yoon: "I do not recognize the investigation, but I want to avoid bloodshed"

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been arrested, Seoul's anti-corruption agency (CIO) reported. The move has made Yoon, a former national chief prosecutor, the first president in South Korean history to be arrested. After lengthy negotiations, investigators succeeded in their second attempt to arrest Yoon at his residence: the arrest warrant "was executed at 10:33 a.m." (2:33 a.m. in Italy), Seoul's anti-corruption agency, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Rank Officials (CIO), said, ruling out any possibility of a voluntary appearance. Yoon, who had already been hit by an arrest warrant that was not executed due to riots, was suspended from his duties due to the ongoing impeachment proceedings.

“I am truly shocked to see that illegality upon illegality upon illegality has been carried out and that procedures have been forcefully conducted under an invalid mandate,” Yoon said in a video released before his arrest. “I do not recognize the Corruption Investigation Bureau’s investigation of senior officials,” he added in the video. “As president, who has the responsibility to uphold the Constitution and legal system of the Republic of Korea, my decision to abide by such illegal and invalid procedures is not an acknowledgement, but rather a desire to prevent untoward incidents and bloodshed .”

Live television footage, which was also streamed live, showed a convoy of vehicles, including buses and police cars, leaving the presidential residence complex in the center of the South Korean capital and heading to the IOC headquarters in Gwacheon, south of Seoul.

The anti-corruption agency also did not report any physical confrontation, unlike the first arrest attempt on January 3 , which was part of a deployment of about 3,000 officers , part of an operation that took into account the potential clashes between Yoon's opponents and supporters. The police also used force to push through the crowd that had formed in front of the presidential residence and to remove the barricades that had transformed the residence into a sort of bunker in recent days, complete with barbed wire placed on the walls. The IOC's previous arrest attempt failed after a six-hour standoff with presidential security guards, amid tensions and fears of a potential armed conflict.

Following the December 3 martial law declaration case , which was deemed a coup attempt, the Seoul Western District Court had initially issued a detention warrant for Yoon and a separate warrant to search his residence last week. However, Yoon defied the authorities and refused to appear before investigators for questioning. Hence the arrest warrant. Yoon exercised his right to remain silent during the 2.5-hour interrogation at the Senior Officials Corruption Investigation Bureau (CIO).