police storm and arrest ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol

This is the first time a sitting South Korean president has been arrested by police. At sunrise on Wednesday, January 15, in front of his residence, which had been transformed into a veritable fortress for several days, the police forces literally attacked to finally succeed in arresting the deposed president Yoon Suk Yeol, 64 years old. After a month and a half of political chaos in South Korea since the short-lived martial law of December 3, a new judicial stage has just opened, without guaranteeing a rapid return to political stability. Death penalty “I have decided to respond to the Corruption Investigation Bureau,” ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol announced in a video message at the time of his arrest, adding that he did not recognize the legality of the investigation but that ‘he submitted to it “to avoid any unfortunate bloodshed”. Suspended by deputies a few days after martial law and also wanted for “rebellion”, a crime punishable by death, the conservative leader had until then always refused to explain himself, pushing prosecutors to resort to arrest warrants. stop in order to force it. This is the “first step towards the return of constitutional order, democracy and the rule of law”, greeted Park Chan-dae, head of the Party deputies democrat (main force of opposition) in Parliament. But for an independent South Korean journalist “the country is not yet saved from political instability because the forces present on the political spectrum, liberals and conservatives, remain determined to fight.” Yoon’s destiny does not still sealedKim Yoon-cheol, in his fifties, told the Japanese daily Nikkei Asia that he arrived at the scene around 3 a.m. to help prevent the arrest. “South Korea is a liberal democracy and this arrest is undemocratic,” he said. While left-wing activists gathered near the residence rejoiced at this arrest deemed perfectly legal. However, the political destiny of the incarcerated president is far from being sealed. His impeachment trial led by the Constitutional Court opened Tuesday January 14. The Court has 180 days from December 14, the date on which it was seized of the case by a vote of the deputies, to decide whether to permanently dismiss Yoon Suk Yeol or to reinstate him in his functions as president, i.e. until early June. We do not know if he will appear at the hearings. The former South Korean presidents involved in such proceedings, Park Geun-hye (dismissed in 2017 and imprisoned) and Roh Moo-hyun (re-instated in 2004), never came to their trials. For the first it took around 90 days for the court to deliver its verdict, and around 60 days for the second. New election or new unrest On the nine seats of the Constitutional Court, a two-thirds majority is required to ratify a dismissal. One seat is currently vacant. Among the eight judges, three are considered left-wing sympathizers, while the others are classified by local media as centrists or conservatives. If the impeachment is approved, a new presidential election must be held within 60 days. If the Constitutional Court reinstates Yoon Suk Yeol in office, political experts predict further unrest. But in parallel with these proceedings, Yoon Suk Yeol is subject to an arrest warrant and several investigations, including one for “rebellion”, a crime punishable by death.



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