Supporters of impeached South Korean president storm Seoul court after it extended his detention
Investigators allege Yoon Suk Yeol fomented insurrection with martial law order
A South Korean court on Sunday extended the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for up to 20 days, leading to violent protests by hundreds of angry supporters who stormed the court building, smashed windows and broke inside.
Yoon last week became the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested as he faces allegations of insurrection related to his stunning, short-lived Dec. 3 declaration of martial law that has plunged the country into political turmoil.
Shortly after the court's decision was announced on Sunday at about 3 a.m. local time, his supporters swarmed the building, overwhelming riot police trying to keep them at bay.
Footage showed protesters blasting fire extinguishers at lines of police guarding the front entrance, before they flooded inside, destroying office equipment and furniture.
Police, who restored order a few hours later, said they had so far arrested 46 protesters.
"We will track down till the end more of those who committed illegal acts or instigated and assisted," the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said in a statement.
About 40 minor injuries were sustained during the chaos, but no serious injuries were reported, an emergency responder near the court said.
Yoon 'may destroy evidence,' court says
With a requirement either to petition to extend Yoon's detention or free him within 48 hours, South Korean investigators asked a court in Seoul on Friday to hold him for longer after he refused to be questioned.
After a five-hour hearing on Saturday that was attended by Yoon, the Seoul Western District Court opted to grant the investigators' request due to "concern that the suspect may destroy evidence," the court said in a statement.
Under the new warrant, Yoon can be detained for up to 20 days. South Korean regulations require a suspect detained under a warrant to undergo a physical exam, have a mugshot taken and wear a prison uniform.
He is expected to continue to be held in a solitary cell at the Seoul Detention Centre.
"President Yoon Suk Yeol and our legal team will never give up," his lawyers, who have called the criminal probe invalid, 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.
Yoon's conservative People Power Party (PPP) called the court's decision a "great pity."
"There's a question whether repercussions of detaining a sitting president were sufficiently considered," the party said in a statement.
But 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 Yoon's martial law declaration, which he rescinded hours later in the face of a unanimous vote in parliament rejecting it. Lawmakers impeached Yoon on Dec. 14, suspending his presidential powers.
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 per cent — for the first time since August, a Gallup Korea poll showed on Friday.
Denying the allegations that he masterminded insurrection, Yoon has so far stonewalled efforts by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials to interrogate him, refusing to be questioned.
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 its 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.
Separate from the criminal probe that sparked Sunday's chaos, the country's Constitutional Court is deliberating over whether to uphold the impeachment and permanently remove Yoon or restore his powers.