S Korea's Yoon becomes first sitting president to be arrested

South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol has go the country's archetypal sitting president to beryllium arrested, ending a weeks-long standoff betwixt investigators and his idiosyncratic security.

Yoon, whose failed effort to enforce martial instrumentality plunged the state into turmoil and saw him impeached by parliament, is being investigated connected charges of insurrection.

He is, however, inactive technically the president arsenic a law tribunal has to determine whether his impeachment is valid.

Investigators utilized ladders and wirecutters successful the freezing acold to get to Yoon, whose Presidential Security Service (PSS) unit had erected barricades successful a bid to thwart his arrest.

The 64-year-old person said helium agreed to look earlier the Corruption Investigation Office for precocious ranking officials (CIO) to debar bloodshed.

In a three-minute video message, Yoon said helium would comply with the probe against him adjacent though helium was against it.

He has consistently maintained that the warrant for his apprehension is not legally valid.

Yoon said helium witnessed however authorities "invaded" his home's information perimeter with occurrence equipment.

"I decided to look earlier the CIO, adjacent though it is an amerciable investigation, successful bid to forestall immoderate unsavoury bloodshed," helium said.

More than 1,000 officers were portion of Wednesday's dawn operation, which marked the 2nd clip officers had tried to apprehension him.

The CIO which is investigating Yoon, antecedently attempted to apprehension him connected 3 January.

They had obtained the warrant aft helium ignored aggregate summonses to look for questioning.

Yoon's People Power Party besides decried his apprehension arsenic "illegal", with level person Kweon Seong-dong describing Wednesday's events arsenic "regretful".

On the different hand, the level person of the absorption Democratic Party, Park Chan-dae, said Yoon's apprehension showed that "justice successful South Korea is alive".

This apprehension "is the archetypal measurement toward restoring law order, ideology and the regularisation of law," helium said during a enactment meeting.

The state is presently being led by Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok arsenic acting president. He was thrust into powerfulness aft the archetypal acting president, Han Duck-soo, was besides impeached by absorption bulk parliament.

After undergoing questioning connected Wednesday, Yoon is expected to beryllium detained astatine the Seoul Detention Centre successful Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, astir 5km (3 miles) from the CIO's office.

If a tribunal doesn't contented a detention warrant wrong 48 hours of Yoon's arrest, however, helium volition beryllium released, and escaped to instrumentality to the statesmanlike residence.

While the apprehension of a sitting president is singular for South Korean politics, the country's governmental situation is acold from over. It is conscionable different signifier successful an unfolding governmental drama.

The crowds extracurricular Yoon's location connected Wednesday greeting underscored the heavy divisions successful the country.

The anti-Yoon assemblage cheered, clapped and blasted retired a "congratulations and celebrations" opus astatine the announcement of his arrest.

The ambiance is wholly antithetic connected the different side.

"We are precise upset and aggravated - the regularisation of instrumentality has breached down," a Yoon protagonist told the BBC.

The standoff besides pitted 2 branches of enforcement powerfulness against each other: instrumentality enforcement officers, equipped with a ineligible apprehension warrant and statesmanlike information staff, who said they were work bound to support the suspended president.

Even earlier his martial instrumentality declaration, Yoon had been reduced to a lame duck person arsenic the absorption enactment held the bulk successful parliament.

He has besides faced contention implicit his woman for receiving a Dior container arsenic a gift.