As president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol lived in an opulent hilltop mansion, threw events and had a small military of private guards. Today, he’s alone in a 107-square-foot jail cell, consuming easy meals like noodles and kimchi soup, and sleeping on the ground.
This can be his new actuality for some time but, after he was formally arrested on revolt expenses early Sunday as a part of an investigation into his ill-fated declaration of martial regulation final month.
Mr. Yoon, 64, has been within the Seoul Detention Heart, a government-run jail south of Seoul, since Wednesday, when he grew to become the primary sitting president in South Korean historical past to be detained in a prison investigation. When a district courtroom in Seoul issued the warrant to arrest him, he went from being a brief detainee to a prison suspect dealing with an indictment and trial.
That change in standing means Mr. Yoon is unlikely to go away jail any time quickly. Inside the subsequent 18 days, prison investigators and prosecutors are anticipated to indict him on expenses of main an revolt throughout his short-lived martial regulation final month. If he’s convicted, he’ll face life imprisonment or the dying penalty.
Mr. Yoon’s new circumstances symbolize his dramatic fall from grace: from a swaggering head of state to an impeached president to an inmate accused of committing one of many worst offenses in South Korea’s prison code. He’s the primary South Korean to face revolt expenses for the reason that former army dictator Chun Doo-hwan, who was convicted within the Nineties.
As president, Mr. Yoon liked to throw events, typically inviting like-minded politicians to night drinks and even cooking and serving rolled egg and barbecue to his presidential press corps. He confirmed off his well-honed entertaining abilities overseas when he belted out “American Pie” throughout a state dinner on the White Home in 2023.
On Sunday, Mr. Yoon will get up to not presidential aides and cooks catering to his wants, however to a easy jail breakfast prone to include dumpling soup, dried radish and cabbage kimchi. A mean meal in jail prices $1.20.
The dramatic political upheaval he unleashed seems to have shocked him as a lot as on a regular basis South Koreans.
“Sarcastically, it was after I used to be impeached that I really realized that I’m, certainly, the president,” Mr. Yoon stated in a prolonged assertion on Wednesday.
Many South Korean politicians and dignitaries — together with two former presidents and Lee Jae-yong, the top of the Samsung conglomerate — have been held on the Seoul Detention Heart in Uiwang, a metropolis south of Seoul. When he was a prosecutor, Mr. Yoon helped put one of many two former presidents, Park Geun-hye, there on corruption expenses. The jail additionally holds among the nation’s most notorious dying row inmates, together with serial killers.
Authorities officers stated Mr. Yoon would get no particular therapy, besides that he could be stored in a room of his personal, away from different detainees and inmates. After his formal arrest, he was anticipated to undergo a easy medical checkup and obtain a toothbrush and different requirements for jail life. He could be assigned an inmate quantity and a pea-green jail uniform.
His cell may have a TV set, a sink, a small cabinet, a studying desk that doubles as a dinner desk, and a foldable mattress for sleeping. The cell has a bathroom however no bathe. The area can be monitored across the clock by means of closed-circuit tv. There’s train time and visiting hours.
Mr. Yoon has been an avid follower of right-wing YouTubers who supported his authorities and unfold conspiracy theories that depicted his home enemies as harmful sympathizers with North Korea and China. Since he declared martial regulation on Dec. 3, Mr. Yoon has stated his motion was impressed partially by the identical worry, indignation and suspicions unfold by the extremists on YouTube.
The jail TV exhibits solely packages approved by the Ministry of Justice. Inmates can not use the web, however do have entry to books and newspapers. At rallies calling for Mr. Yoon’s arrest in latest weeks, some protesters held indicators that learn: “Yoon Suk Yeol: It’s time for a digital detox!”
Yang Kyeung-soo, a labor union chief who had frolicked in a solitary cell within the Seoul Detention Heart, posted jail survival recommendations on X. “You must discover ways to save heat water since you wash your personal dishes. Should you eat all the things they serve, you’ll acquire weight shortly.”
Mr. Yoon was anticipated to satisfy regularly along with his attorneys in a visiting space to organize for his trials. Individually, the nation’s Constitutional Courtroom is deliberating whether or not the Nationwide Meeting’s vote on Dec. 14 to question him was reputable and if he ought to be formally faraway from workplace.
Mr. Yoon’s martial regulation lasted solely six hours as a result of the opposition-dominated Nationwide Meeting voted it down. However throughout that temporary interval, he ordered army commanders to seize the Meeting and arrest his political enemies, in response to prosecutors who’ve arrested and indicted the army generals accused of serving to Mr. Yoon commit revolt.
Mr. Yoon and his legal professionals insisted that his imposition of martial regulation was a reputable use of presidential energy.
After they detained Mr. Yoon on Wednesday, officers from the nation’s Corruption Investigation Workplace For Excessive-ranking Officers questioned him till he was despatched to relaxation in a cell on the Seoul Detention Heart at evening. He has since refused to go away his cell to face extra questioning.
However on Saturday, he attended a listening to on the Seoul Western District Courtroom, the place a decide deliberated on whether or not to challenge a warrant to arrest him. He argued his innocence as hundreds of supporters had been gathered outdoors demanding his launch. A few of them later surrounded two vehicles carrying the investigators who sought to arrest Mr. Yoon, shouting insults and damaging their automobiles.
Early Sunday, the decide issued the arrest warrant, saying that Mr. Yoon might destroy proof if he was launched. Shortly afterward, offended supporters of Mr. Yoon swarmed over police barricades and into the courthouse, breaking panels off its partitions and smashing home windows with fireplace extinguishers and plastic chairs. Police moved in to revive order and detained dozens of protesters.
When Ms. Park, the previous president, was held within the detention heart, die-hard supporters gathered close to its partitions each morning and shouted “Good morning, President Park Geun-hye!”
Since Mr. Yoon’s arrival, some supporters have camped outdoors, calling his impeachment and his arrest “null and void.”