Rioters Ransack Korean Court After Yoon's Arrest Extended

Drama continues in South Korea after the detention of arrested president Yoon Suk Yeol was extended for up to 20 days early on Sunday morning.

Hundreds of Yoon’s supporters stormed – and ransacked – a court building after the move was announced. That led to the arrest of dozens of suspects, aged from teenagers to people in their 70s, according to the Korea Times, which quoted the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

Three of the people arrested were described as “You Tubers” and police have been analyzing phone records and videos posted on YouTube “for further evidence of the chaotic scene,” the paper said.

ALSO SEE: China Merged or Dissolved Over 160 Small Banks in 2024 – SCMP

Damage seen inside the Seoul court building on Monday January 20, 2025 (Reuters).

Protesters set off fire extinguishers at lines of police guarding the entrance of the Seoul Western District Court, which allowed dozens to swarm in and damage office equipment and furniture inside the building.

Police restored order a few hours later, saying they had arrested 46 protesters and vowing to track down others involved.

“The government expresses strong regret over the illegal violence… which is unimaginable in a democratic society,” acting President Choi Sang-mok said in a statement, adding that the authorities would step up safety measures around gatherings.

Nine police officers were injured in the chaos, Yonhap news agency reported. Police were not immediately available for comment on the injured officers.

About 40 people suffered minor injuries, an emergency responder near the court said.

Several of those involved live-streamed the intrusion on YouTube, showing protesters trashing the court and chanting Yoon’s name. Some streamers were caught by police during their broadcasts.

Yoon refusing to be questioned

Yoon was arrested last Wednesday following a brief and ill-fated bid to impose martial law last month – a move that shocked the country.

But with the president refusing to be questioned, investigators faced a deadline on detaining him and were forced to ask the court on Friday to extend his custody.

After a five-hour hearing on Saturday, which Yoon attended, a judge granted a new warrant extending Yoon’s detention for up to 20 days, due to “concern that the suspect may destroy evidence.”

South Korean regulations require a suspect detained under a warrant to undergo a physical exam, have a mugshot taken and wear a prison uniform.

The leader is being held in a solitary cell at the Seoul Detention Centre.

The corruption investigation office leading the probe said it had called Yoon in for further questioning on Sunday afternoon, but the prosecutor-turned-president has so far stonewalled their efforts to interrogate him.

His lawyers have argued the arrest is illegal because the warrant was issued in the wrong jurisdiction and the investigating team had no mandate for their probe.

Insurrection, the crime that Yoon may be charged with, is one of the few that a South Korean president does not have immunity from 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 said in a statement.

“We will do our best in all future judicial procedures to correct the wrong,” the lawyers said, adding that the violence at the court was an “unfortunate” incident.

Top court debating impeachment

Separate to the criminal probe that sparked Sunday’s chaos, the Constitutional Court is deliberating whether to permanently remove him from office, in line with parliament’s December 14 impeachment, or restore his presidential powers.

Yoon’s conservative People Power Party called the court’s decision to extend his detention on Sunday a “great pity.”

“There’s a question whether repercussions of detaining a sitting president were sufficiently considered,” the party said in a statement.

The main opposition Democratic Party called the court’s approval on the warrant a “cornerstone” for rebuilding order and said that “riots” by “far-right” groups would only deepen the national crisis.

Support for the PPP collapsed after his martial law declaration, which he rescinded hours later in the face of a unanimous vote in parliament rejecting it.

But in the turmoil since – in which the opposition-majority parliament also impeached his first replacement and investigators botched an initial attempt to arrest Yoon – the PPP’s support has sharply rebounded.

His party has edged ahead of the opposition Democratic Party in support – 39% to 36% – for the first time since August, a Gallup Korea poll showed on Friday.

Thousands gathered for an orderly rally in support of Yoon in downtown Seoul on Sunday morning. Anti-Yoon demonstrations have also taken place across the city in recent days.