President Yoon Suk-yeol was arrested on January 15 by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) on charges of leading an insurrection. It was 43 days after his short-lived imposition of martial law on December 3 last year and 15 days after the court first issued an arrest warrant on December 31. This is the first time in Korea’s constitutional history that a sitting president has been arrested and investigated. Yoon is the sixth president to be investigated as a suspect since the country's democratization. The president spent the first night of his arrest at the Seoul Detention Center after completing the CIO’s investigation at 9:40 p.m.

Yoon, who turned back the clock of the Korean democracy won by citizens to the pre-democratic era, refused to make a statement.

The arrest warrant was executed at 10:33 a.m. that day at his official residence in Hannam-dong, Seoul. Prior to his arrest, the CIO presented Yoon with the warrant that read, “The suspect (Yoon) conspired with Kim Yong-hyun (former Defense Minister) and others to cause riots and abuse his authority with the purpose of excluding state power or disrupting the national constitution.”

The CIO and the police broke through the security guard’s cordon and entered the presidential residence more than two hours before the arrest. It was delayed as Yoon tried to take the form of voluntary attendance. It was Yoon who took the opportunity to avoid arrest. From the time the prosecution first demanded attendance on January 11, he consistently refused to comply with the demand. He ignored all judicial procedures and brought arrest upon himself.

The CIO and the police, who backed down after about five hours in the first execution of Yoon’s arrest warrant due to the Presidential Security Service’s resistance, deployed more than 1,000 investigators and succeeded in arresting Yoon about six hours after the start of the operation.

The vast majority of security agents did not block the execution of the lawful warrant. Some People’s Power Party (PPP) lawmakers and supporters protested outside the presidential residence, calling the arrest “illegal.”

The presidential office released a video recording in time for the arrest. Yoon said he would comply with the “illegal and invalid” procedure out of a “desire to prevent bloodshed.” He also added, “Even though the law is broken and it's a very dark time, I feel hopeful about the future of this country.” Later that day, a 6,780-character statement was posted on Yoon's social media account, which focuses on his claims of "election fraud.”

After his arrest, Yoon arrived at the CIO office in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, in 20 minutes in a security vehicle. He entered the back door of the building to avoid the photo line. He did not answer any questions during the investigation and also refused to be videotaped. The CIO decided to apply for an arrest warrant to detain him more on the morning of the 17th at the latest.