For the first time in the country’s history, a sitting president has been arrested. However, the crisis does not end there.

Initially, the investigation into the coup, which conservatives call “the martial law case”, was meant to involve several law enforcement agencies. However, on December 18, the priority was handed to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). This agency was originally established during President Moon Jae-in’s administration, ostensibly to protect high-level officials, including Moon himself, from criminal prosecution. As a result, the CIO has been predominantly staffed by officials with ties to the Democratic Party.

On the one hand, this high-ranking agency was created as a counterpart to the prosecutor’s office. On the other hand, it lacks the technical capacity to handle cases beyond corruption. Its involvement in a coup investigation against a sitting president is thus outside its formal mandate.

The First Arrest Attempt

The CIO summoned Yoon three times for questioning – on December 18, 25, and 29 – but he ignored all the subpoenas, refusing to authorize a representative or negotiate a revised schedule. On December 30, the CIO requested an arrest warrant, which the Seoul Western District Court issued the following day. A search warrant for the presidential residence in Yongsan, central Seoul, was also included.

On January 3, the first arrest attempt was made, but it failed after more than five hours of standoff with the Presidential Security Service (PSS). Over 200 PSS personnel formed a human barricade, preventing investigators from entering. According to Democratic Party claims, there was even a risk that the president’s security detail might open fire to prevent his arrest, as Yoon – despite being impeached – remained the head of state until the Constitutional Court issued its final ruling.

The Second Arrest Attempt

Yoon attempted to have the court warrants annulled, calling them illegal, but his petition was rejected on January 5. The CIO then issued a second arrest warrant on January 6.

On January 15, at 10:33 a.m., Yoon Suk-yeol was arrested approximately three hours after law enforcement entered the presidential residence. Unlike the first attempt, presidential security personnel did not offer significant resistance – although all sides were very fearful of bloodshed, it did not occur. Investigators used ladders to enter the grounds of the presidential residence after the Presidential Security Service created a barricade of........

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