South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol gestures outside the Seoul detention center in Uiwang, South Korea, after his release on Saturday. (Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)
SEOUL — South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday was released from jail, where he was being held while he faces a criminal trial on charges of insurrection for declaring martial law last December.
The Seoul Central District Court on Friday ordered Yoon’s release, siding with his lawyers that there was a procedural error in detaining him. Prosecutors had one week to appeal the court’s ruling, but on Saturday declined to do so.
Yoon’s release has no bearing on his criminal case or his impeachment trial, legal experts say. The constitutional court is expected to rule as early as next week on whether to remove him from office or reinstate him.
But his abrupt release after 52 days in detention is likely to embolden his supporters and to intensify the political divide between liberals and conservatives ahead of the impeachment ruling.
Supporters and opponents of Yoon held huge rallies throughout Seoul on Saturday. When Yoon’s release was ordered, his supporters broke out in cheers, waving the South Korean flag, chanting “Open the prison gates” and holding signs reading, “Immediately cancel illegal detentions,” according to local media reports.
A majority of South Koreans support removing Yoon from office, polls show, but his supporters have grown increasingly vocal and active in the face of his potential removal, holding mass protests in Seoul and elsewhere in the country questioning the legitimacy of the court’s proceedings. Yoon’s opponents have also been holding large rallies demanding his removal.
Law enforcement agencies are now working on security protocols outside the constitutional court for the day of his impeachment verdict, out of concerns of potentially violent clashes between the two sides.
Yoon was arrested and indicted in January on charges of leading an insurrection when he briefly imposed martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. Under South Korean law, sitting presidents are immune from prosecution except when it comes to charges of insurrection.
His lawyers had argued that there were procedural problems with his arrest and indictment that rendered his detention illegal. The court agreed with his lawyers that he was being held longer than was allowed under the arrest warrant, and ordered his release.
Yoon, the first sitting South Korean president to be indicted and criminally investigated, returned to the presidential residence on Saturday afternoon.
He claimed that he declared martial law to simply inform the public that the opposition Democratic Party, which controls the National Assembly, was obstructing governance and undermining his agenda. He said he only sent martial law troops to the National Assembly after declaring martial law to serve as a warning to the lawmakers, who lifted his decree within hours.
But top military and law enforcement officers later testified that Yoon had ordered them to drag out lawmakers from the chamber so they could not vote to reverse his declaration of martial law.
If Yoon is removed from office, South Korea must hold a snap election for a new president within 60 days.