Defiant Yoon complied with arrest to avoid 'national tragedy,' PPP lawmakers say
Published: 16 Jan. 2025, 13:56
Updated: 16 Jan. 2025, 14:09
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- LIM JEONG-WON
- [email protected]
![President Yoon Suk Yeol is seen riding in a car moving to Seoul Detention Center after being questioned by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) at the CIO headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi on Jan. 15. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/16/19420174-96d9-47ea-aa8f-91d412d14039.jpg)
President Yoon Suk Yeol is seen riding in a car moving to Seoul Detention Center after being questioned by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) at the CIO headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi on Jan. 15. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
President Yoon Suk Yeol told People Power Party lawmakers visiting the presidential residence before his arrest on Wednesday that “if I continue to stay here, there will be clashes between the police and security service, and bloodshed will be inevitable.”
“I am not giving into illegal investigations, but I am complying with the warrant execution to prevent a national tragedy," Yoon said before his arrest.
According to multiple sources from the PPP, Yoon went to bed at 1 a.m. Wednesday and woke up at 2:30 a.m. He'd barely slept for two hours and made sandwiches for the presidential office staff and his legal team.
Yoon started his day by handing out sandwiches he had made himself to the staff of the presidential residence and met with PPP lawmakers who had visited him.
Thirty-five PPP lawmakers gathered around 4:30 a.m. to attempt to block the execution of the arrest warrant by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).
One of them, Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, an active participant in recent anti-impeachment rallies, was the first to enter the presidential residence and meet with President Yoon.
Afterward, Rep. Kwon Young-jin, Lee Sang-hwi and Park Choong-kwon entered the residence at around 8:20 a.m. In the process, a scuffle broke out between the lawmakers and CIO officials and the police, resulting in Kwon’s clothes being torn and Lee suffering bruises.
President Yoon reportedly expressed his intention to comply with the warrant execution during a one-and-a-half-hour conversation over tea with Kwon and others.
“The investigation by the CIO and the request for an arrest warrant are illegal, as is the process of issuing and executing the warrant,” said Yoon during the conversation, according to multiple PPP sources who were present. “I will comply with the execution to prevent bloodshed among young people.”
One attendee reported, "As we entered the residence, about 40 administrative officers from the presidential office were lined up in the hallway with reddened eyes.”
First lady Kim Keon Hee also briefly came out of her room to greet the lawmakers, according to those who were present.
In particular, Kwon is said to have asked Yoon whether he asked troops to drag lawmakers from the National Assembly and arrest them on the night of the Dec. 3 martial law declaration, as claimed by former Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-geun.
Yoon reportedly smiled at Kwon, who had asked the question in an aggressive manner, and replied that it was "ridiculous," adding, “What would we have achieved by dragging out National Assembly members at that time?”
Around 10 a.m., when the arrest warrant was about to be executed, 16 more PPP lawmakers entered the residence. Multiple sources present at the time reported that “when we said we wanted to say goodbyes to the president, even the CIO backed down and let us in.”
Following this, 13 non-parliamentary PPP committee chairmen also entered the residence.
Yoon reportedly shook hands with them, praised their hard work and asked them to "lead the party well.” He added, “I have no more goals because I have been president. However, I realize there’s nothing more I can do in this state.”
Some lawmakers reportedly shed tears after seeing Yoon’s calm attitude, and one party committee chairman fell to the floor sobbing. Yoon lifted him and hugged him, patting his shoulder.
Former lawmaker Lee Yong, who served as the secretary for Yoon’s presidential campaign during his candidate days and a staunch Yoon loyalist, also burst into tears.
“There were sandwiches on the table, but nobody wanted to eat them in that atmosphere,” said one PPP official. “Everyone was solemn, and some even bowed to the president. Yoon was the one who comforted us.”
Another attendee said that Yoon "told us that the party’s approval rating has risen a lot and that we should focus on re-establishing the government.”
Before leaving the residence, Yoon reportedly asked to take a last look at Tori, the president's pet dog.
After Yoon left, lawmakers who were visiting the residence held a separate press conference and said the arrest set a "terrible precedent" regarding "illegal warrants, illegal arrests and arbitrary intrusion into military protection facilities.”
They said the rule of law and democratic procedures "were trampled on by the opposition party with an absolute majority and its followers.”
BY SUNG JI-WON, LEE CHANG-HOON, KIM KI-JEONG, LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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