5 hours ago
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January 19, 2025 | 04:54 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Hundreds of supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stormed a courthouse on Sunday morning after his detention was extended, Reuters reported, smashing windows and destroying the interior of the courthouse, an attack the country's acting leader called "unimaginable."
Shortly after the court ruling was announced at around 3 a.m. local time on Sunday, his supporters swarmed the courthouse, with riot police trying to hold them back.
Protesters set off fire extinguishers at a line of police guarding the front entrance, then stormed the courthouse. Footage showed the crowd destroying office equipment, supplies and furniture in the courthouse.
Police restored order hours later, saying they had arrested 46 protesters and were tracking down others involved.
"The government expresses regret over the illegal violence ... that is unthinkable in a democratic society," acting President Choi Sang-mok said in a statement, adding that authorities would step up security measures around the gathering.
Nine police officers were injured in the chaos, Yonhap news agency reported. Police were not immediately available to comment on the injured officers.
About 40 people suffered minor injuries, an emergency worker near the Seoul Western District Court said.
Some of those involved live-streamed the intrusion on YouTube, showing protesters smashing the court and chanting Yoon's name. Several streamers were arrested by police during their broadcasts.
Yoon on Wednesday became the first South Korean president to be arrested on charges of rebellion, related to his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law that has plunged the country into political turmoil.
Yoon Feared to Destroy Evidence
With Yoon refusing to be questioned, investigators are facing a deadline to detain the impeached president, and authorities asked the court on Friday to extend his detention.
After a five-hour hearing on Saturday, which Yoon attended, a judge granted a new warrant extending Yoon's detention by 20 days, citing "concerns that the suspect could destroy evidence."
South Korean law requires suspects detained on warrants to undergo physical examinations, have mugshots taken and wear prison uniforms.
The leader is being held in solitary confinement at the Seoul Detention Center.
The corruption investigation office leading the probe said it had summoned Yoon for further questioning on Sunday afternoon. But the presidential prosecutors have so far blocked their attempts to question him.
His lawyers argue the arrest was illegal because the warrant was issued in the wrong jurisdiction and the investigation team had no mandate for their probe.
Insurrection is one of the few crimes for which South Korea’s president does not have immunity, and is technically punishable by death. South Korea, however, has not executed anyone in nearly 30 years.
“President Yoon Suk Yeol and our legal team will never give up,” lawyers representing Yoon, who have called the criminal investigation illegitimate, said in a statement.
“We will do our utmost in all future judicial procedures to correct the mistake,” the lawyers said, adding that the violence in the courtroom was an “unfortunate” incident.
Separate from the criminal probe that sparked Sunday’s chaos, the Constitutional Court is considering whether to permanently remove him from office, in line with a parliamentary impeachment on Dec. 14, or restore his presidential powers.
Political Parties Step In
The conservative People Power Party that backs Yoon called the court’s decision to extend his detention on Sunday “very unfortunate.”
“There are questions about whether the impact of detaining a sitting president has been sufficiently considered,” the party said in a statement.
The main opposition Democratic Party said the decision was a “foundation” for reestablishing order and that “riots” by “right-wing” groups would only deepen the national crisis.
Support for the PPP collapsed after his declaration of martial law, which he reversed hours later in the face of a unanimous vote in parliament to reject it.
But in the chaos since then — in which the opposition-majority parliament also impeached his first successor and investigators failed in an initial attempt to arrest Yoon — support for the PPP has rebounded sharply.
His party has narrowly edged ahead of the opposition Democratic Party in support — 39 percent to 36 percent — for the first time since August, a Gallup Korea poll showed.
Thousands gathered for an orderly rally in support of Yoon Suk Yeol in central Seoul on Sunday morning. Anti-Yoon demonstrations have also taken place across the city in recent days.
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