A court issued a warrant on Jan. 19 to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law last month, marking the first detention of a sitting president in South Korea’s modern history.
Senior Judge Cha Eun-kyung of the Seoul Western District Court conducted a pre-detention hearing for Yoon on Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. and issued the warrant early the next morning, citing concerns about evidence tampering. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) detained Yoon on Jan. 15 on charges of leading an insurrection and abuse of authority before seeking the warrant on Jan. 17.
Yoon is accused of declaring an unconstitutional and illegal state of martial law on Dec. 3, deploying military and police forces to the National Assembly and the National Election Commission to incite a revolt and disrupt constitutional order. He allegedly issued an illegal decree banning political activities within the National Assembly and used it to blockade the legislature, obstructing efforts to lift martial law. Additional allegations include attempts to detain prominent figures such as National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, former People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon, and staff of the National Election Commission.
In its 150-page warrant application, the CIO reportedly described Yoon as a “typical offender driven by conviction” and warned that he might resort to similarly extreme measures, including another declaration of martial law, if his impeachment trial were dismissed.
The court’s decision to issue the warrant appears to have been influenced by the gravity of the charges, with insurrection classified as a severe crime punishable by death. The detention of 10 others involved in implementing Yoon’s orders, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, was also a significant factor.
The CIO pointed to Yoon’s actions before declaring martial law—such as replacing his cellphone and deleting his Telegram account—as evidence of potential tampering. The court is believed to have accepted this argument.
Yoon’s defense team argued that martial law is subject to judicial review, claimed the CIO does not have jurisdiction over insurrection cases, and contended that filing the warrant with the Seoul Western District Court instead of the Seoul Central District Court violated territorial jurisdiction. However, these arguments were dismissed, as they had been during an earlier arrest warrant review by the Seoul Central District Court.
The CIO had summoned Yoon three times since December, but after he failed to appear, it obtained an arrest warrant from the Seoul Western District Court and detained him on Jan. 15. Yoon invoked his right to remain silent during questioning on the day of his arrest and refused to participate in investigations on Jan. 16 and 17. Determining further questioning to be futile, the CIO filed for the detention warrant on Jan. 17.
Following the court’s decision, Yoon will undergo formal admission procedures at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, where he will be held in the pretrial detention wing.
The process will involve verifying personal information, such as his name, resident registration number, and address, as well as conducting a basic medical examination. Yoon will be required to wear pretrial detainee attire, be assigned an inmate number, and have his photo taken for the detention record, commonly referred to as a mugshot.
