Yoon supporters storm Seoul courthouse after judge extends detention

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Supporters of the suspended South Korean president stormed a courthouse in Seoul early Sunday morning after a judge extended Yoon Suk Yeol’s detention on charges of insurrection and abuse of power.

More than 40,000 people gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday evening to show their support Yoon as investigators tried to extend his detention. He was arrested on Wednesday following the failed attempt to impose martial law last month.

After a judge ordered the extension around 3 a.m. local time, dozens of supporters broke through police barricades and stormed the building, breaking windows and doors and hurling fire extinguishers at officers guarding the entrance to the courthouse, according to South Korean police.

According to local media reports, police reinforcements eventually took back control of the building and arrested nearly 90 people.

The clash is the latest chapter in a deepening political crisis sparked by Yoon’s decision last month to send troops to the country’s National Assembly to prevent lawmakers from rejecting his attempt to impose military rule on the East Asian country.

Yoon was suspended from his duties after the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion by a two-thirds majority last month. But he has vowed to “fight to the end,” claiming he is the victim of a conspiracy by left-wing and pro-North Korean forces.

Many of Yoon’s hardline supporters have adopted the language of US President Donald Trump’s supporters, carrying US flags and English-language placards reading “Stop the Steal” – a reference to allegations of fraud in the 2020 US presidential election that preceded the storm of the US Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.

While his powers have been transferred to Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok as acting president, Yoon remains South Korea’s head of state while the country’s Constitutional Court deliberates on whether to approve his removal or reinstate him to office.

Yoon was arrested and detained at his hilltop compound on Wednesday after an hours-long standoff between his security detail and investigators from South Korea’s Corruption Investigation Bureau.

The president’s legal team has repeatedly argued that the CIO does not have the authority to investigate the insurrection allegation and that the Seoul Western District Court does not have jurisdiction in his case. Both claims were rejected by South Korean judges.

According to the CIO, Yoon has refused to cooperate with investigators since his arrest on Wednesday. The extended arrest warrant means he can be held for questioning for an additional 20 days. During this time he will likely be held in solitary confinement due to his status as head of state.

Seok Dong-hyeon, a lawyer for Yoon, wrote in a Facebook post Sunday morning that he found the court’s decision “really difficult to understand.” However, he urged the president’s supporters not to “go too far” as they “might fall into targeted attacks or counterattacks from left-wing forces.”