As the president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol lived in a luxurious hilltop mansion, threw parties and had a small army of personal guards. These days, he is alone in a 107-square-meter prison cell, eating simple food like noodles and kimchi soup and sleeping on the floor.
This will be his new reality for some time to come, after he was formally arrested on sedition charges early Sunday as part of an investigation into his ill-fated declaration of martial law last month.
Mr. Yoon, 64, has been in the Seoul Detention Center, a state prison south of Seoul, since Wednesday, when he became the first incumbent president in the history of South Korea to be detained in a criminal investigation. When the Seoul District Court issued a warrant for his arrest, he went from a temporary detainer to a criminal suspect facing indictment and trial.
That change in status means Mr. Yoon is unlikely to leave prison anytime soon. Within the next 18 days, criminal investigators and prosecutors are expected to indict him for leading a rebellion during his short-lived state of war last month. If convicted, he faces life in prison or the death penalty.
New circumstances of Mr. Yoon is symbolized by his dramatic fall from grace: from flamboyant head of state to impeached president to prisoner accused of committing one of the worst crimes in South Korea’s criminal code. He is the first South Korean to face sedition charges since the former military dictator Chun Doo-hwanwho was convicted in the nineties of the last century.
As president, Mr. Yoon liked to throw parties, often inviting like-minded politicians for evening drinks and even cooking and serving rolled eggs and a barbecue to his presidential press corps. He showed off his well-honed entertainment skills abroad when he said “American Pie” during the state dinner at the White House in 2023.
On Sunday, Mr. Yoon will not wake up to presidential aides and chefs tending to his needs, but to a simple prison breakfast that will likely consist of dumpling soup, dried radish and cabbage kimchi. The average meal in prison costs $1.20.
The dramatic political upheaval he unleashed seems to have stunned him as much as ordinary South Koreans.
“Ironically, it was only after I was impeached that I really realized that I was really the president,” Mr. Yoon said in a lengthy statement on Wednesday.
Many South Korean politicians and dignitaries — including two former presidents and Lee Jae-yong, head of conglomerate Samsung — were held at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, a city south of Seoul. While he was a prosecutor, Mr. Yoon helped put one of the two former presidents, Park Geun-hyethere due to corruption charges. The prison also holds some of the country’s most notorious death row inmates, including serial killers.
Government officials said that Mr. Yoon will not receive any special treatment, except that he will be kept in his room, away from other detainees and prisoners. After his official arrest, he was expected to undergo a simple medical examination and be given a toothbrush and other necessities for prison life. . He will be assigned a prisoner number and a pea-green prison uniform.
His cell will have a television, a sink, a small cabinet, a reading table that doubles as a dinner table, and a folding mattress for sleeping. The cell has a toilet, but no shower. The area will be monitored 24 hours a day via closed-circuit television. There is practice time and visiting time.
Mr. Yoon was an avid follower of right-wing YouTubers who supported his government and spread conspiracy theories which portrayed its domestic enemies as dangerous sympathizers of North Korea and China. Since declaring a state of emergency on December 3, Mr. Yoon said his action was partly inspired by the same fear, resentment and suspicion spread by extremists on YouTube.
Prison television shows only programs approved by the Ministry of Justice. Prisoners cannot use the Internet, but they have access to books and newspapers. At rallies calling for Mr. Yoon’s arrest in recent weeks, some protesters held signs that read: “Yoon Suk Yeol: Time for a digital detox!”
Yang Kyeung-soo, a labor union leader who spent time in solitary confinement at a Seoul detention center, posted prison survival tips on X. “You have to learn how to save hot water because you wash your own dishes.” If you eat everything they serve, you will gain weight quickly.”
Mr. Yoon was expected to meet frequently with his lawyers in the visiting area to prepare for the trials. Separately, the country’s Constitutional Court is considering whether the National Assembly’s December 14 vote on his impeachment was legitimate and whether he should be officially removed from office.
Mr. Yoon’s state of emergency lasted only six hours as the opposition-dominated National Assembly voted against him. But during that brief period, he ordered military commanders to seize the Assembly and arrest his political enemies, according to prosecutors who arrested and charged military generals accused of helping Mr. Yoon in rebellion.
Mr. Yoon and his lawyers insisted that his declaration of emergency was a legitimate use of presidential power.
After detaining Mr. Yoon on Wednesday, officials from the National Bureau of Corruption Investigation for Senior Officials interrogated him until they sent him to rest in a cell at the Seoul Detention Center at night. He has since refused to leave his cell to face further questioning.
But he attended a hearing at the West Seoul District Court on Saturday, where a judge was debating whether to issue a warrant for his arrest. He maintained his innocence as thousands of supporters gathered outside to demand his release. Some of them later surrounded two cars carrying investigators who wanted to arrest Mr. Yoon, insulting them and damaging their vehicles.
Early Sunday, a judge issued an arrest warrant, saying Mr. Yoon can destroy the evidence if he is released. Soon after, angry supporters of Mr. Yoon was pushed over police barricades and into the courthouse, breaking panels from walls and smashing windows with fire extinguishers and plastic chairs. The police moved in to restore order and detained dozens of protesters.
When Mrs. Park, the former president, was held in the detention center, die-hard supporters gathered every morning outside its walls and shouted “Good morning, President Park Geun-hye!”
Since Mr. Yoon’s arrival, some supporters have camped outside, calling his impeachment and his arrest “null and void.”
