Arrest of S. Korea's Yoon: The Start of a Complex Legal Saga

Questions remain over legitimacy of agency's actions against the President

- Wendy Teo

Things came full circle when South Korea's anti-graft agency finally succeeded on its second attempt to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol on Jan 15.

There is no love lost between the two.

When the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) was created in January 2021 by then President Moon Jae-in to curb the authority of the country's powerful prosecution service, Mr Yoon, who was then chief prosecutor, had vocally opposed his decision and then resigned in protest.

Two months later, Mr Yoon threw his hat into the ring as a presidential candidate for the 2022 elections. He won with the slimmest margin in South Korean electoral history.

Nearly three years later, Mr Yoon has gained the infamy of being the first sitting president to be arrested by the very agency he despises, for criminal investigations into his short-lived martial law declaration on Dec 3.

After an embarrassing failed attempt to take him into custody on Jan 3, the CIO finally succeeded in breaking through the heavily barricaded presidential residence and executing the arrest warrant at 10.33am local time (9.33am Singapore time) on Jan 15.

While the arrest might appear to be a triumph on the CIO's part, questions remain over the agency's legitimacy in its actions against the President, amid the power play between the various investigative bodies.

Seoul National University law professor Lee Jae-min calls the arrest "just the beginning of a legal saga to come", with legal complexities ahead, given the unclear boundaries and overlapping jurisdictions of the agencies involved.