From presidential office to prison cell: Impeached South Korean president Yoon’s new life of 6.30am wake-ups and cafeteria kimchi

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - South Korean impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at the complex building housing the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) in Gwacheon on January 15, 2025. — AFP pic

SEOUL, Jan 16 — South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday as part of an investigation into alleged insurrection, and in between being questioned the suspended leader is expected to be held in a solitary cell at a detention centre.

While he is the first incumbent president to be arrested in South Korea, other high-profile figures including former President Park Geun-hye and Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee have also spent time in the Seoul Detention Centre.

The following is what is expected to unfold for the former prosecutor-turned president in coming days.

Sofa in questioning area

Yoon has been taken to the offices of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) that is leading the investigation into his role in declaring martial law on December 3.

The CIO is an independent agency launched in 2021 to investigate high-ranking officials including the president and their family members but it does not have authority to prosecute the president and must refer any case to the prosecutors’ office for further action.

The office is located in a sprawling government complex in Gwacheon which borders the capital Seoul, about 10 minutes by police motorcade from the president’s official residence.

The CIO prepared a questionnaire of over 200 pages for Yoon. Although authorities had prepared for the questioning to be video recorded, it is not being filmed as Yoon refused to be recorded, a CIO official said.

The interrogation facilities include a newly created rest area with a sofa to accommodate Yoon, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Solitary jail cell

Authorities have 48 hours to question Yoon, after which they must seek a warrant to detain him for up to 20 days or release him.

While in custody, Yoon will be held in the Seoul Detention Centre when he is not being questioned, although there may not be time for him to go there within 48 hours if questioning continues overnight, according to the CIO.

The facility, despite its name, is in the city of Uiwang, 22km south of Seoul.

According to precedent and due to his status, Yoon will probably be assigned a solitary cell, likely bigger and better appointed than the standard 6.56 square metre single cells.

On arrival at the detention centre, Yoon will go through the formality of an ID check and a simple health examination, and join the life of a pre-trial detainee rising at 6.30am and with lights out at 9pm.

2,500 calories

The Korea Correctional Service, which operates the country’s prisons and detention centres, says in its regulations and menu section that it provides inmates with 2,500 calories of food per day at a cost of about 1,600 won (RM5) per meal.

The menus at the Seoul Detention Centre on Wednesday included a dinner of bean sprout soup, barbecued beef, kimchi, pepper and wrap sauce, according to information provided by the centre.

An official at the centre declined to comment when asked whether it expected to be housing Yoon.

20 days

Authorities have a maximum of 20 days to indict Yoon from the moment of his arrest. They have 48 hours to request a formal detention warrant from the court, which would consider the likelihood of whether he could try to tamper with evidence or witnesses.

The CIO, which will question him in that period, is made up of prosecutors under its head, Oh Dong-woon, who was formerly a judge.

Two of the four investigative divisions currently have no staff, and just nine prosecutors and Oh’s deputy are handling Yoon’s case, which has magnified questions over whether the agency has the capacity to successfully build a case against Yoon. — Reuters