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Supporters of the suspended South Korean president stormed a courthouse in Seoul early Sunday morning after a judge extended Yoon Suk Yeol’s detention on charges of sedition and abuse of power.
More than 40,000 people gathered outside the Western District Court in Seoul on Saturday night in a show of support Yoon because the investigators asked for an extension of his detention. He was arrested on Wednesday in connection with a failed attempt to impose martial law last month.
After the judge granted an extension around 3 a.m. local time, dozens of fans broke through police barricades and stormed the building, according to South Korean police, smashing windows and doors and throwing fire extinguishers at police officers guarding the entrance to the courthouse.
Police reinforcements eventually retook control of the building and arrested nearly 90 people, according to local media reports.
The conflict is the latest chapter in a spiraling political crisis triggered by Yoon’s decision last month to send troops into the country’s national assembly as he tried to prevent lawmakers from rejecting his bid to impose military rule on the East Asian country.
Yoon was suspended from his duties after the national assembly passed an impeachment motion last month by a two-thirds majority. But he vowed to “fight to the very end”, claiming he was the victim of a conspiracy by leftist and pro-North Korean forces.
Many of Yoon’s die-hard supporters have adopted the language of US President Donald Trump’s followers, carrying American flags and holding signs in English with the words “Stop the Steal” — a reference to allegations of fraud in the 2020 US presidential election that preceded the attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.
While his powers have been transferred to Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok as acting president, Yoon remains South Korea’s head of state while the country’s Constitutional Court decides whether to approve his impeachment or reinstate him.
Yoon was arrested and detained on Wednesday after an hours-long standoff at his hilltop compound between his security detail and investigators from South Korea’s Corruption Investigation Bureau.
The president’s legal team has repeatedly argued that the CIO has no right to investigate the sedition charges and that the West Seoul District Court has no jurisdiction over his case. South Korean judges rejected both claims.
According to the CIO, Yoon has refused to cooperate with investigators since his detention on Wednesday. The extended warrant means he can be held for questioning for another 20 days, during which time he will likely be in solitary confinement due to his status as head of state.
Seok Dong-hyeon, Yoon’s lawyer, wrote in a Facebook post Sunday morning that he found the court’s decision “really hard to understand.” But he urged the president’s supporters “not to go too far” because they could be “caught in targeted attacks or counterattacks by leftist forces.”
