South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol (centre) leaves the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on July 9, 2025, before being driven to the Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang. (AFP)
Seoul: South Korea’s disgraced ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol was detained for a second time yesterday over his declaration of martial law and held in a solitary cell as investigators widened their insurrection probe.
The latest arrest warrant was issued over concerns that Yoon would “destroy evidence” in the case, Nam Se-jin, a senior judge at Seoul’s Central District Court said.
Yoon is being held in a solitary cell which has only a fan and no air-conditioning, as a heat wave grips South Korea. According to the official schedule, he was offered a regulation breakfast including steamed potatoes and milk.
Investigators said yesterday that Yoon’s status as former president will be “duly considered” but otherwise he will be “treated like any other suspect”. “Investigations during the detention period will focus on the warrant’s stated charges,” prosecutor Park Ji-young told reporters.
Yoon’s criminal trial also continued with a hearing yesterday, although he did not attend for the first time.
The former president, 64, attended a hearing over the new warrant on Wednesday that lasted about seven hours, during which he rejected all charges, before being taken to a holding centre near Seoul where he awaited the court’s decision on whether to detain him again.
During his warrant hearing, the former president said he is now “fighting alone”, local media reported. “The special counsel is now going after even my defence lawyers,” said Yoon during his hearing.
“One by one my lawyers are stepping away, and I may soon have to fight this alone.”
Once the warrant was issued early yesterday, Yoon was placed in a solitary cell at the facility, where he can be held for up to 20 days as prosecutors prepare to formally indict him including on additional charges.
“Once Yoon is indicted, he could remain detained for up to six months following indictment,” Yun Bok-nam, president of Lawyers for a Democratic Society, told AFP.
“Theoretically, immediate release is possible, but in this case, the special counsel has argued that the risk of evidence destruction remains high, and that the charges are already substantially supported.”
During the hearing, Yoon’s legal team criticised the detention request as unreasonable, stressing that Yoon has been ousted and “no longer holds any authority”.
