South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been arrested on charges of treason in the attempted coup on December 3 , Seoul's anti-corruption agency (CIO) said, making the former chief prosecutor the first sitting president - albeit one suspended from office due to the ongoing impeachment proceedings - in South Korean history to be arrested.
Yoon was arrested at his home after lengthy negotiations: the arrest warrant "was executed at 10:33" (2:33 in Italy), the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Rank Officials (IOC), Seoul's anti-corruption agency, reported, ruling out any possibility of voluntary appearance . The incident was followed live on TV, with viewers following the images of the convoy of vehicles, including buses and police cars, as it left the presidential residence complex in the center of the South Korean capital to head to the IOC headquarters in Gwacheon, south of Seoul.
The anti-corruption agency also did not report any physical confrontation, unlike what happened in the first arrest attempt on January 3, amid the mobilization of about 3,000 officers, part of an operation that took into account the possible clashes between opponents and supporters of Yoon.
Police used force to clear a path through the crowd that had gathered in front of the presidential residence and to remove the barricades that had transformed the residence into a veritable bunker in recent days, with barbed wire placed on the walls.
The IOC's previous attempt to arrest the president failed after a six-hour standoff with security guards, amid rising tensions and fears of a possible armed conflict.
(Unioneonline/vf)