South Korea’s Impeached President Yoon Released From Detention

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was released from detention on Saturday after a court voided his arrest on procedural grounds.

However, he remains under investigation over his declaration of martial law.

The suspended president, who was detained in a dawn raid in January on insurrection charges related to his December 3 attempt to subvert civilian rule, walked out of the detention center smiling and bowed deeply before a small crowd of cheering supporters.

“I bow my head in gratitude to the people of this nation,” Yoon said in a statement released through his lawyers.

A court had canceled his arrest warrant a day earlier on technical and legal grounds—a decision that prosecutors called “unjust.”

Yoon was freed after prosecutors waived their right to appeal the verdict, which specifically concerned technical details of his detention on criminal charges.

He still faces a separate Constitutional Court ruling on whether to uphold his impeachment and formally remove him from office. The judges’ decision is expected soon.

Prosecutors stated that “given the Constitutional Court’s ruling and related considerations, the Prosecutor General has instructed the team to actively present its arguments before the trial court instead of appealing Yoon’s release from detention.”

If Yoon is removed, South Korea must hold a fresh presidential election within 60 days. His criminal case will continue regardless of whether he is stripped of office.

“Because Yoon’s release is related to procedural aspects, it will have no bearing on the Constitutional Court’s deliberation on his impeachment,” Yoo Jung-hoon, a lawyer and political columnist, told AFP.

“However, with social confusion and strife among Yoon’s supporters and protesters intensifying due to his release, the court may feel a greater need to act swiftly,” he added.

Yoon’s lawyers, who had requested the cancellation of his arrest last month, argued his detention was unlawful because the prosecution waited too long to indict him. They hailed his release, stating, “The president’s release signifies the restoration of the rule of law.”

Yoon immediately returned to the presidential residence, where he was greeted by hundreds of cheering supporters. AFP reporters saw him stepping out of his car outside the presidential compound to acknowledge their support.

The opposition strongly criticized the decision. A Democratic Party spokesperson said Yoon was behaving “like a general who has just won a battle. This is shameless behavior from someone indicted for leading an insurrection.”

"The only way forward now is Yoon’s swift removal from office,” the spokesperson said, referring to the impending ruling by the Constitutional Court.

Yoon, a former prosecutor, threw South Korea into political turmoil in December by briefly suspending civilian rule and deploying soldiers to parliament.

He has been charged with insurrection over his martial law declaration, which lawmakers voted down within hours before impeaching him.

The 64-year-old resisted arrest for two weeks, leading to a tense standoff between his security team and investigators at his official residence in Seoul. He was finally taken into custody on January 15.

Much of the impeachment trial has focused on whether Yoon violated the constitution by declaring martial law, which is reserved for national emergencies or times of war.

The opposition has accused him of taking the extraordinary measure without proper justification.

Yoon’s lawyers have defended his actions, arguing that he declared martial law to warn the country of the dangers of “legislative dictatorship” by the opposition.