Impeached S. Korean President Yoon arrested

South Korean investigators have arrested South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol over accusations of insurrection for briefly imposing martial law in a move swiftly overturned by the country’s National Assembly, Al Jazeera reported.

“The Joint Investigation Headquarters executed an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk-yeol today (January 15) at 10:33 am,” the authorities said in a statement on Wednesday, making Yoon the first South Korean president to be arrested while still in office.

In a prerecorded video message released after his arrest, Yoon said he had made the decision to submit to questioning over his failed martial law bid to avert “bloodshed”.

“I decided to respond to the Corruption Investigation Office,” Yoon said, adding that he did not accept the legality of the investigation but was complying “to prevent any unfortunate bloodshed”.

South Korean investigators and police used ladders to climb into Yoon’s residential compound after they were initially blocked by the Presidential Security Service, which barricaded the entrance using vehicles, according to reports.

Thousands of people, including supporters, had gathered outside Yoon’s home, while a group of lawmakers from the governing conservative People Power Party and Yoon’s lawyers had also attempted to prevent the arrest inside the residential compound, the reports said.

After the arrest, Yoon’s presidential motorcade was seen leaving his hillside residence with police escorts. A vehicle apparently carrying Yoon later arrived at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials in the nearby city of Gwacheon.

The standoff at Yoon’s presidential residence came just hours after he failed to appear for the first hearing in his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law on December 3.