WEB DESK
South Korean authorities say they have detained President Yoon Suk-yeol. But they say he’s refusing to cooperate. Yoon faces charges of insurrection over his brief declaration of martial law in December. This is the first time in South Korean history that a sitting president has been detained.
Yoon is being questioned at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in Gyeonggi Province near Seoul.
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency says questioning is being conducted in a room with video-recording equipment but Yoon is refusing to speak or be filmed. Reports say that a rest space with a sofa has been set up in front of the investigation room, and meals for Yoon may be delivered to him.
Yoon remained defiant as he was taken in for questioning. He said: “I cannot help but feel disappointed to see that the investigators are pushing ahead with an invalid detention warrant. But I have decided to accept the request, despite it being an illegal investigation, to prevent bloodshed as investigators forced their way into the residence. But I stand against this investigation.”
Authorities now have 48 hours to decide whether to file for a formal arrest warrant or release Yoon, whose detention marks the first time a sitting South Korean president has been taken into police custody.
For weeks, Yoon has been holed up at his presidential residence, which had been fortified with barbed wire fencing and a multilayer barricade of tightly packed buses and other vehicles.