The ousted president of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, was transferred this Monday to an isolation cell in the general wing of the Seoul Detention Center, after being officially arrested over the weekend. Prison sources in the country confirmed that Yoon will no longer be able to receive visits, except for those from his lawyers, after a South Korean court approved yesterday, Sunday, to extend his arrest for unilaterally declaring martial law at the beginning of last December.
The now-incarcerated President was removed by the South Korean Congress on December 14 and is waiting for the Constitutional Court to decide whether to uphold his dismissal or reinstate him in office. According to a prison source quoted by the South Korean news agency Yonhap, Yoon cooperated after learning of the extension of his arrest and allowed a police photo to be taken and a physical examination to be conducted.
The director of the South Korean Correctional Service stated that his agency is cooperating with the police and the Presidential Security Service (PSS) to ensure the security of the detention center and Yoon Suk-yeol himself. South Korean security and police agencies have decided to increase protection around the ousted leader, due to concerns generated by his supporters, who attempted to storm the court that extended his arrest yesterday.
With the extension of Yoon's arrest, investigators can keep the ousted president detained for up to 20 days, which includes the time he has already spent in the detention center since he was arrested on January 15. Yoon defends that his declaration of martial law was a "governance act" aimed at giving a "warning" to the opposition, which he accused of "anti-state" activities in Parliament.
