Mug shot, solitary cell for South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Police stand guard on a street near the Seoul Western District Court in Seoul yesterday after hundreds of pro-Yoon protesters smashed windows and broke down doors to enter the court following the extension of the detention of impeached South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol. Pic by AFP

SEOUL Jan 20 — South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol had his mug shot taken and underwent a physical check before spending his first night in jail as a criminal suspect, a prison officer said today.

Yoon was arrested in a dawn raid last week, becoming the first sitting South Korean head of state to be detained in a criminal probe on insurrection charges over his botched declaration of martial law.

A court approved his formal arrest warrant yesterday, citing concerns he would destroy evidence, and Yoon went from being a temporary detainee to a criminal suspect facing an indictment and trial.

Yoon was given a 12-square-meter (129-square-feet) cell at Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang yesterday, according to Shin Yong-hae, commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service.

He was “assigned to one of the standard rooms used by regular inmates,” Shin told lawmakers during a parliamentary session.

Yoon’s cell — which typically would hold five or six people, Yonhap reported — is similar in size to those where past presidents have been detained, Shin said.

The suspended leader, whose powers have been transferred to an acting president but who remains sitting head of state, also had his mug shot taken and underwent physical examination like his fellow inmates, Shin said.

“The individual cooperated well with the procedures without any particular issues,” Shin said.

According to prison regulations, Yoon will have to change from his normal clothes into a khaki prison uniform, and he will also have been assigned an inmate number.

Prison officials have said his cell includes a small table to use for eating and studying, a small shelf, a sink and a toilet. It also includes a television, but viewing time is strictly restricted.

Inmates are allowed to go out for an hour every day for exercise, and shower once a week, but local media have reported that authorities will attempt to prevent him coming into contact with other inmates.

His personal security detail will accompany him whenever he leaves his cell, reports say.

Court attack

Yoon plunged South Korea into political chaos with his Dec 3 martial law declaration, which lasted just six hours before lawmakers voted it down. They later impeached him, stripping him of duties.

He faces a Constitutional Court case deciding whether to uphold his impeachment, and also a criminal investigation on insurrection charges, over which he has been detained.

Yoon has claimed the probe is illegal, and resisted arrest for weeks, vowing to “fight to the end”. His die-hard supporters attacked the court building yesterday after it extended Yoon’s detention.

Dozens of people, including YouTube streamers, have been arrested over a riot at a Seoul court, police said Monday, and 51 police officers were injured in the attack, including some with head injuries and fractures.

Up to 35,000 of his supporters were outside the court Saturday, according to a police document seen by AFP.

After the formal arrest warrant was issued early yesterday, some 300 people gathered near the rear entrance and began “throwing objects such as glass bottles, rocks, and chairs into the court grounds,” according to the police report.

“Some 100 protesters entered the court premises, smashing windows of the first floor, damaging the walls and entering inside the building,” said the police.

Yoon declined to attend questioning Monday, his lawyers said, with the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) — the body in charge of the probe — saying it would consider a “forced summons”. — AFP