Impeached South Korean president held after standoff with investigators

South Korea's impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was arrested and questioned for hours over his ill-fated declaration of martial law last month, handing himself in after an early-morning standoff yesterday outside his official residence in Seoul.

- Raphael Rashid, Justin McCurry

His detention makes him the first sitting president in the country's history to be arrested.

"I decided to respond to the CIO's investigation - despite it being an illegal investigation - to prevent unsavoury bloodshed," Yoon said in a statement, referring to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) that is heading the criminal inquiry.

CIO officials said Yoon had refused to talk during two and a half hours of questioning and had refused to be filmed. His presidential convoy was seen leaving the CIO offices late yesterday evening. Yoon is expected to be held at Seoul detention centre.

He can be held for questioning for up to 48 hours on the existing arrest warrant. Authorities must then decide whether to release him or seek a fresh warrant to detain him for up to 20 days.

Yoon's supporters and those who oppose him have been protesting in the capital for days. While the president was being interrogated yesterday, an unidentified person set themselves on fire nearby, the national fire agency said. It added the man, in his 60s, was severely burned and unconscious after the incident.