A supporter of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol holds a sign near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 7, 2025. The letters read, "President was right." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A supporter of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol holds a sign near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 7, 2025. The letters read, “President was right.” (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
SEOUL, South Korea — Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was freed Saturday in South Korea’s latest shock political development.
On Friday, Seoul’s Central District Court ordered the embattled political leader released while awaiting a Constitutional Court ruling on whether he should be removed from office.
After walking out of a detention center near Seoul, Mr. Yoon waved, clenched his fists and bowed deeply as his supporters shouted his name and waved South Korean and U.S. flags. Mr. Yoon climbed into a black van and headed to his presidential residence in Seoul.
In a statement by his attorneys, Mr. Yoon said he “appreciates the courage and decision by the Seoul Central District Court to correct illegality,” in an apparent reference to legal disputes over his arrest. He thanked his supporters and asked those on hunger strike against his impeachment to end it.
Mr. Yoon was arrested after a dramatic standoff at his residence Jan. 15. He has since been under questioning by anti-corruption investigators and state prosecutors who suspect his ill-fated and short-lived attempt in December to declare martial law constituted an act of insurrection.
A sitting president can be criminally charged only with insurrection and treason. Sentencing options include the death penalty, a life sentence with hard labor or life without labor.
The main opposition party, which many forecast to win if the president is removed and new elections are held, was unhappy with Mr. Yoon’s release.
“A miscalculation by the prosecution does not erase the fact that an unconstitutional military coup disrupted the constitutional order,” Lee Ja-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, told reporters.
The Constitutional Court is in the final stages of closed-door deliberations on impeachment. The court ended its hearings on Feb. 25. It typically makes decisions within two weeks.
Mr. Yoon’s opponents and his conservative supporters, many associated with large Christian churches, held massive rallies in central Seoul over the weekend.
If his impeachment is upheld, the government must hold a new presidential election for a single, five-year term within 60 days. Mr. Yoon’s term was supposed to last until 2027.
According to the most recent polls, the Democratic Party of Korea, which already controls the National Assembly, would win that election.
Supporters were pleased with the order to release the president.
Mr. Yoon’s release “is a turning point of the battle around the issue of impeachment,” said Kim Chul-hong, an academic and organizer of rallies for Mr. Yoon. “The flow of water changes, and I expect next week the Constitutional Court will reject … the motion of impeachment.”
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.
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