South Korea

February 20, 2025 12:06 PM

South Korea’s Yoon attends his first criminal trial hearing

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared at a Seoul court on Thursday for the first hearing of his criminal trial over insurrection charges, during which his lawyers demanded his release from jail. TV footage aired by local broadcasters showed justice ministry vehicles leaving the Seoul Detention Centre where Yoon is being held before arriving at the court where lines of police buses were parked outside to ensure security. The court heard a bid by Yoon's lawyers to cancel his d...

January 21, 2025 5:38 PM

South Korea’s Yoon defends actions at impeachment hearing over martial law decree

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended on Tuesday a Constitutional Court hearing of his impeachment trial where he denied ordering military commanders to drag lawmakers out of parliament during his short-lived bid to impose martial law. Near the start of the hearing, Yoon said he had worked in public service with "a firm commitment to free democracy", when invited by the acting chief justice, Moon Hyung-bae, to speak. Dressed in a navy-coloured suit with a burgundy tie, Yoon, a career p...

January 20, 2025 2:16 PM

South Korea’s Yoon shuns questioning as security tightened after court rampage

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol refused on Monday to be questioned by investigators under a probe into whether he committed insurrection, as dozens of his supporters faced arrest over a violent rampage on a court building. Authorities said security was being beefed up at the Seoul Detention Centre where Yoon is being held as a pre-trial inmate and at the Constitutional Court which is holding an impeachment trial to decide whether to permanently remove him from office. Yoon beca...

January 15, 2025 7:29 PM

What you need to know about the arrest of South Korea’s Yoon

South Korean investigators arrested impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday for alleged insurrection over his bid to impose martial law, after weeks of defiance and claims by Yoon and his lawyers that the arrest warrant was invalid. Here is what we know about his arrest so far: WHY WAS YOON ARRESTED? Yoon's arrest stems from his brief imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, which stunned South Koreans as he declared on national television his aim to root out "anti-state forces" and to ove...

January 15, 2025 10:50 AM

What you need to know about the arrest of South Korea’s Yoon

South Korean investigators arrested impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday for alleged insurrection over his bid to impose martial law, ending weeks of defiance and claims by Yoon and his lawyers that the arrest warrant was invalid. Yoon and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO), which is probing his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3, are at odds over whether the CIO has the authority to arrest and pursue criminal charges against a president. Autho...

Police officers stand guard as people gather near the presidential residence to show support for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol after the anti-corruption agency for high-ranking officials received a new court warrant to arrest Yoon, in Seoul, South Korea, January 8, 2025. Photo by Daniel Ceng/Anadolu via Getty Images/Files

January 15, 2025 4:30 PM

South Korean investigators question arrested President Yoon in insurrection probe

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested and questioned by authorities on Wednesday in relation to a criminal insurrection investigation, saying he was only cooperating with what he called an illegal probe to avoid violence. His arrest, the first ever for an incumbent South Korean president, is the latest head-spinning development for one of Asia's most vibrant democracies even though the country has a history of prosecuting and imprisoning former leaders. Since lawmakers vo...

January 14, 2025 10:03 AM

Trial of South Korea’s impeached President Yoon set to begin

The trial of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was set to start on Tuesday with oral arguments over his short-lived bid to impose martial law which threw the country into the worst political chaos in decades. However, the Constitutional Court session is likely to be cut short as Yoon, who has been holed up in his hillside villa in Seoul for weeks, is not expected to attend. The next trial session is scheduled for Thursday. The Constitutional Court must decide within 180 days whether to remove...

January 13, 2025 12:01 PM

The dangers of Pakistan – North Korea nexus

On 6 January, North Korea tested a hypersonic missile. A hypersonic missile is one that can travel at more than five times the speed of sound, which makes it more difficult to track and shoot down. The test coincided with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to South Korea. North Korea released photographs that showed its leader Kim Jong-un watching the missile-test along with his daughter. Pyongyang said the missile reached a top speed of Mach 12 -- that is 12 times the speed ...

January 6, 2025 12:36 PM

Blinken expresses confidence in South Korea democratic process as Yoon faces arrest

South Korean investigators will seek an extension of a warrant to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, as visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed confidence in the key Asian ally's handling of the political turmoil. Investigators probing Yoon over his Dec. 3 martial law on Friday again failed to serve an arrest warrant, blocked by presidential security service guards who formed a human chain to prevent access to Yoon. The arrest warrant, the first for a sitting presid...

January 6, 2025 9:11 AM

South Korean police asked to execute arrest warrant for impeached president

South Korea's anti-corruption agency said on Monday that it had asked police to take over the execution of an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. The request comes after a failed attempt to execute an arrest warrant on Friday following a tense stand-off with presidential guards who formed a human chain to block access by the investigators. A joint team of investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and police are probing allega...