South Korean police have arrested conservative president Yoon Suk Yeol, plunging the country deeper into a political crisis weeks after Yoon attempted to declare martial law.
Hundreds of police officers converged on Yoon's compound, where he has holed up for weeks as protesters on both sides of South Korea's deep political divide gathered outside.
Yoon's arrest, the first of a South Korean president, has opened up a new and unpredictable chapter in the country's political history.
The country's anti-corruption agency accuses Yoon of attempting a coup against South Korea's democracy with his short-lived martial law declaration in December. Yoon say the arrest is illegitimate, not enforceable and an attack on the rule of law.
Yoon was brought to the Soul Detention Center after 10 hours of questioning at the office of the anti-corruption agency, where hundreds of his supporters gathered in solidarity.
In a defiant video released shortly before his arrest, Yoon said he does not recognize the legitimacy of the process, but he would comply to keep the peace.
“I am truly appalled to see illegalities upon illegalities upon illegalities being carried out and procedures being forcefully conducted under an invalid warrant,” Yoon said in the video.
“I do not acknowledge the investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials. As the president, who is responsible for upholding the constitution and legal system of the Republic of Korea, my decision to comply with such illegal and invalid procedures is not an acknowledgment of them, but rather a willingness to prevent unfortunate and bloody incidents."
Yoon's conservative People Power Party condemned the arrest as a sham, while the liberal opposition Democratic Party called it a "first step toward restoring constitutional order, democracy, and realizing the rule of law.”
Yoon's December 3 martial law proclamation was quickly and unanimously overturned by South Korea's parliament, which later voted to impeach Yoon for an attempted insurrection. Yoon has said his declaration was justified by the threat of "anti-state" actors with North Korean sympathies in the opposition party, who have a majority.
A previous attempt by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) to detain Yoon on January 3 failed after an hours-long standoff at his compound.
The second attempt was successful Wednesday as some 1,000 agents made a dramatic show of force - using wire cutters and ladders to break through barricades.
Investigators have 48 hours to hold Yoon before they need to request another warrant, but he could be detained indefinitely if prosecutors indict him for treason.
The December 14 impeachment suspended his presidential authority, but he won't be removed from office unless the Constitutional Court says so. South Korea is currently being led by Acting President Choi Sang-mok.
