Seoul (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was freed from a detention centre in Seoul on March 08, 2025, after prosecutors declined to appeal a court decision to withdraw the impeached leader’s arrest warrant on insurrection charges.
He remains suspended from his responsibilities, and his criminal and impeachment trials have continued over his short-lived martial law declaration on December 3. The Seoul Central District Court annulled Yoon’s arrest warrant, noting the timing of his accusation and “questions about the legality” of the investigation procedure.
“First of all, I would like to thank the Central District Court for their courage and determination in correcting the illegality,”
Yoon stated.
Yoon’s lawyers stated the court move
“confirmed that the president’s detention was problematic in both procedural and substantive aspects,”
Calling the order the
“beginning of a journey to restore rule of law”.
In Yoon’s impeachment case, the Constitutional Court is expected to choose in the coming days whether to reinstall him or dismiss him from office.
When was Yoon arrested?
Yoon, the first South Korean president to be apprehended while in office, has been detained since January 15. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was apprehended in the presidential residence, becoming the country’s first serving president to be kept in custody over his short-lived martial law imposition.
A joint investigation unit comprised of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), the defense ministry’s investigative headquarters and the National Office of Investigation (NOI) announced Yoon’s arrest on short notice.
TV footage revealed that a black vehicle moving Yoon arrived at the CIO office in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, before being confined at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, just 5 km out from the office.
He is also accused of abusing his power by dispatching troops to parliament to prevent lawmakers from voting down the decree, which they nevertheless were able to do. The Korean parliament impeached him on Dec. 14 and remains suspended from responsibilities pending a Constitutional Court judgment.
