SEOUL: South Korea’s disgraced ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol was detained for a second time Thursday over his declaration of martial law and held in a solitary cell as investigators widened their insurrection probe.
Yoon plunged South Korea into a political crisis when he sought to subvert civilian rule on December 3 last year, sending armed soldiers to parliament in a bid to prevent lawmakers voting down his declaration of martial law.
He became South Korea’s first sitting president to be taken into custody when he was detained in a dawn raid in January, after he spent weeks resisting arrest, using his presidential security detail to head off investigators.
But he was released on procedural grounds in March, even as his trial on insurrection charges continued.
After Yoon’s impeachment was confirmed by the court in April, he again refused multiple summons from investigators, prompting them to seek his detention once more to ensure cooperation.
The latest arrest warrant was issued over concerns that Yoon would “destroy evidence” in the case, Nam Se-jin, a senior judge at Seoul’s Central District Court said.
Yoon is being held in a solitary cell which has only a fan and no air-conditioning, as a heat wave grips South Korea. According to the official schedule, he was offered a regulation breakfast including steamed potatoes and milk.
Investigators said Thursday that Yoon’s status as former president will be “duly considered” but otherwise he will be “treated like any other suspect.”
“Investigations during the detention period will focus on the warrant’s stated charges,” prosecutor Park Ji-young told reporters.
Yoon’s criminal trial also continued with a hearing Thursday, although he did not attend for the first time.
The former president, 64, attended a hearing over the new warrant on Wednesday that lasted about seven hours, during which he rejected all charges, before being taken to a holding center near Seoul where he awaited the court’s decision on whether to detain him again.
During his warrant hearing, the former president said he is now “fighting alone,” local media reported.
“The special counsel is now going after even my defense lawyers,” said Yoon during his hearing.
“One by one my lawyers are stepping away, and I may soon have to fight this alone.”
Once the warrant was issued early Thursday, Yoon was placed in a solitary cell at the facility, where he can be held for up to 20 days as prosecutors prepare to formally indict him including on additional charges.
“Once Yoon is indicted, he could remain detained for up to six months following indictment,” Yun Bok-nam, president of Lawyers for a Democratic Society, told AFP.
“Theoretically, immediate release is possible, but in this case, the special counsel has argued that the risk of evidence destruction remains high, and that the charges are already substantially supported.”
During the hearing, Yoon’s legal team criticized the detention request as unreasonable, stressing that Yoon has been ousted and “no longer holds any authority.”
Earlier this month, the special counsel questioned Yoon about his resistance during a failed arrest attempt in January, as well as accusations that he authorized drone flights to Pyongyang to help justify declaring martial law.
The former president also faces charges of falsifying official documents related to the martial law bid.
Yoon has defended his martial law decision as necessary to “root out” pro-North Korean and “anti-state” forces.
But the Constitutional Court, when ousting Yoon from office on April 4 in a unanimous decision, said his acts were a “betrayal of people’s trust” and “denial of the principles of democracy.”
South Korea’s current president, Lee Jae Myung, who won the June snap election, approved legislation launching sweeping special investigations into Yoon’s push for martial law and various criminal accusations tied to his administration and wife.
