South Korea's President Yoon released after January arrest

Sam Kim, Bloomberg News on Mar 8, 2025

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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was released from prison on Saturday as prosecutors complied with a court decision to overturn the arrest of the leader impeached for his shock martial law declaration.

Television footage showed Yoon walking out of a detention center and later entering his residence in Seoul. The release came a day after the Seoul Central District Court accepted Yoon’s complaint against the validity of his arrest. Prosecutors had seven days to challenge the decision.

Yoon shocked the nation and the world by briefly imposing martial law in early December. Anti-corruption prosecutors have accused Yoon of mounting an act of insurrection, and he still faces trial for his actions in a criminal court.

The leader awaits a separate verdict from the Constitutional Court on a parliamentary motion that suspended him from power in December. If his impeachment is confirmed, a snap election to replace him will follow in 60 days.

Yoon, 64, has denied wrongdoing, defending his actions as a desperate bid to deal with North Korea sympathizers trying to paralyze his administration. He argued he deployed troops to the National Assembly to safeguard peace and order rather than to block lawmakers from voting to annul the martial law decree.

The turmoil pummeled consumer sentiment, unsettled financial markets and disrupted high-level diplomacy at a time the trade-reliant economy faced growing risks, including tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Yonn’s dramatic arrest in January made him the first sitting president in the country to be taken into custody and indicted on criminal charges of insurrection.

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has led the government as acting president since Yoon was suspended and his first stand-in, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, was also impeached.

Yoon’s lawyers had said his arrest was illegal and invalid, arguing that the court issuing the warrant didn’t have jurisdiction and that the indictment took place after the expiration of his arrest. Prosecutors rejected the claims and said they followed due process.

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