SEOUL, South Korea | Supporters of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol smashed windows and stormed into a court early Sunday moments after it had extended his detention for questioning on charges of insurrection over his declaration of martial law in December.
The court’s decision marks the latest setback for the conservative Mr. Yoon, the first sitting president to be arrested and detained in South Korean history. He has largely refused to respond to questions, saying the investigative body lacks the legal right to interrogate him.
Crowds of Yoon supporters and opponents, along with some 1,400 riot police, had massed outside Seoul Western District Court about 3 a.m. Sunday to await word of the court’s decision on Mr. Yoon, who was detained Wednesday after days of a standoff with authorities.
Citing the risk that Mr. Yoon might destroy evidence if set free, the court extended his two-day detention for questioning to 20 days, minus time served.
Upon hearing the decision, pro-Yoon demonstrators erupted into on-site vandalism, resulting in the arrest 86 people. Nine police officers reportedly suffered injuries.
The political violence is an unusual development: Protests are a near-constant in South Korea, and crowds can number in the hundreds of thousands. But such demonstrations tend to be peaceful.
“In my 30 years as a judge, this is a situation that I could never have predicted and has never happened before,” said Chief Justice Chun Dae-yeop, who visited the court later Sunday to survey the damage. “This is a complete denial of the rule of law and a serious felony.”
Meanwhile, Judge Cha Eun-kyung, who extended Mr. Yoon’s time behind bars, has been granted police protection. And the embattled president has reportedly changed out of his suit and into prison garb.
Pro-Yoon demonstrators have played up their country’s U.S. alliance, waving Korean and U.S. flags during protests against the political and judicial proceedings against the president. Some carry placards with the English signage “Stop the Steal,” echoing the messaging of supporters of then-President Donald Trump after the 2020 U.S. election.
Mr. Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3 to overcome obstructionism in the opposition-controlled National Assembly while investigating suspicions long held by some on the right about election fraud. The National Assembly, including members of his own party, voted down the declaration with three hours.
Mr. Yoon was impeached on Dec. 14. His prime minister, Han Duck-soo, took over the national helm, and he sold was swiftly impeached. South Korea’s acting president is Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok.
A former chief prosecutor, Mr. Yoon is known to be a strong proponent of principle and of being stubborn. He insists that his declaration was a constitutionally guaranteed presidential prerogative, and refuses to answer related questions.
Opponents, however, stress that the decree lacked reasonable grounds and point out unconstitutional faults in its execution.
The Constitutional Court, which will decide whether to uphold Mr. Yoon’s impeachment, has held two hearings and continues to sit. That court, however, is no longer the main player.
Another body, the Corruption Investigation Office for High Ranking Officials or CIO, has taken the lead, accusing Mr. Yoon on insurrection – the only crime other than treason, for which a sitting president can be charged.
Sentences for insurrection are harsh: death, life imprisonment with labor, or life imprisonment without labor.
After two dramatic standoffs between his supporters and bodyguards, on the one hand, and CIO investigators and thousands of police on the other, Yoon was taken into custody for two days of detention on Wednesday.
As Mr. Yoon refused to answer questions, his detention ran over, and has, per Sunday’s court decision, been extended.
The CIO are expected to question Mr. Yoon for 10 days, after which he will be handed over to prosecutors for investigation. The CIO was founded during the term of liberal President Moon Jae-in when he was engaged in a long battle with his then-chief prosecutor – Yoon Suk Yeol.
Per research by Cambridge University in 2021, the Korean Prosecution Service has, since jury trials were began in 2008, a conviction rate of 89.9 percent. Prior to that, the conviction rate was closer to 99%.
Questions hang over the ability of Mr. Yoon and his lawyers to conduct two defenses simultaneously: Against the CIO/prosecutors, and at the Constitutional Court.
Two presidents have been impeached before Mr. Yoon, but neither was held in detention while Constitutional Court proceedings were ongoing.
The last conservative president prior to Mr. Yoon, Park Geun-hye, was arrested and imprisoned after her impeachment was upheld and she was removed from power.
Even so, there is a ray of light for Mr. Yoon’s side.
In a development that has caused head scratching in some media, Mr. Yoon’s conservative People Power Party is drawing ahead of the liberal opposition, the Democratic Party of Korea.
A recent poll of polls, the National Barometer Survey, found that support for Mr. Yoon’s People Power Party was at 35 percent, while that of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea, was 33 percent.
The latest Gallup Poll, linked to the National Election Commission, also released last week, found support for the PPP at 39%, while support for the DPK was 36 percent.
It is the first time since September, that the PPP has drawn ahead of the DPK.
One long-time Korea watcher said groundswell public opinion is easy to overlook.
“In 1987, everybody in the international media was certain that Kim Young-sam or Kim Dae-jung was going to win the election, not Roh Tae-woo,” said Mike Breen, a reporter at the time and a Seoul-based PR consultant and author of “The New Koreans” today. “We all got it wrong.”
In South Korea’s pivotal 1987 election – the first fully democratic plebiscite – Mr. Roh, an ex-general, won over the two liberal candidates, who had decades of pro-democracy activism on their side.
“Never underestimate public desire for stability,” Mr. Breen warned.
Some pundits warn that DPK Leader Lee Jae-myung – himself embroiled in multiple legal entanglements related to corruption and abuse of power scandals during his erstwhile career as a regional politicians - is too extreme to take over the presidency if Mr. Yoon’s impeachment is upheld and a national election is called.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.