By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – Yoon Suk Yeol became the first incumbent South Korean president to be arrested when he finally stepped down on Wednesday in a week-long standoff with authorities investigating him for alleged insurrection. A staunch political survivor who became increasingly isolated midway through his five-year term, Yoon, 64, has been plagued by personal scandals, an unyielding opposition and internal turmoil. in his own party.

His legal risk contrasts with his distinguished pre-political career as a leading prosecutor, which launched him into the public eye and sparked much of the support that led to his victory in the 2022 presidential election, his first elected office.

Since narrowly winning that election, Yoon has been embroiled in persistent infighting that has unleashed a ruthlessness that a former opponent says is his character.

By the time Yoon imposed martial law on December 3 in a move that shocked South Koreans, he was deeply wounded politically. He was suspended from his post after being impeached by parliament on December 14 because of his martial law trial.

Yoon’s political fate rests in the hands of the Constitutional Court as his legal woes mount.

He faces several criminal investigations for insurrection – the only charge South Korean presidents are not immune from – including one headed by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO).

Yoon used his refusal to comply with what he called the CIO’s illegal arrest warrant to rally supporters in the face of renewed legal and political turmoil.

Sequestered in his fortified residence in downtown Seoul, Yoon and his Presidential Security Service played a high-stakes game of chicken with the authorities who had tried to arrest him for two weeks before he finally agreed to appear for questioning.

In a message released while he was under arrest, Yoon said he did not recognize the illegal process, but submitted to avoid bloodshed.

Yoon earlier vowed to “fight to the end” and called on followers to help him save the country from “anti-state forces”.

SCANDALS, THREATS OF PROSECUTION, ‘AMERICAN PIE’

The last year of Yoon’s presidency was overshadowed by a scandal involving his wife, who was accused of improperly accepting an exorbitant price. Christian Dior (EPA:) handbag as a gift.

Yoon apologized after the scandal was blamed as a major reason for a crushing parliamentary election defeat suffered by the PPP in April. But he continues to reject calls for an investigation into the scandal and an allegation of stock price manipulation involving his wife and his mother.

The prosecutors office that investigated the allegations decided not to press charges against the first lady.

Yoon’s struggles at home have overshadowed the relative success he has had on the international stage.

His bold push to reverse a decade-long diplomatic row with neighboring Japan and engage Tokyo in a three-way security cooperation with the United States is widely seen as his signature foreign policy achievement.

Yoon’s ability to bond on a personal level, seen as the trait that gave him his early success, was demonstrated at a White House event in 2023, when he took the stage and wore the 1970s pop hit “American Pie” for a stunned President Joe Biden and a delighted crowd.

SHAMANS, HIGH SCHOOL BUDDIES

Born into a wealthy family in Seoul, Yoon initially did well in school. He entered the elite Seoul National University to study law, but a penchant for partying caused him to repeatedly fail the bar exam before passing on the ninth attempt.

Yoon gained notoriety in 2016 when, as the chief investigator probing former President Park Geun-hye for corruption, he was asked if he wanted revenge and replied that prosecutors were not gangsters.

Three years later, Park suspended Yoon, then fired him from a team investigating a high-profile case against the country’s spy agency. The move was widely seen as punishment for challenging his authority.

The role he played in Park’s imprisonment and his dramatic return as head of the powerful Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office marked the beginning of a confusing rise to power.

Two years later, he became South Korea’s prosecutor general, leading a corruption investigation into a close ally of the next president, Moon Jae-in. That made him a darling of conservatives disillusioned with Moon’s liberal policies, setting Yoon up to be a presidential candidate in 2022.

But his presidency got off to a rocky start when he pushed for the relocation of the president’s office from the Blue House compound to a new site, sparking questions about whether it was due to a feng shui. shui belief that the old presidential compound is cursed. Yoon has denied any involvement by him or his wife with a shaman.

When Yoon refused to fire senior officials after the 2022 Halloween crowd crush that killed 159 people, he was accused of protecting his “yes men”. One is Safety Minister Lee Sang-min, Yoon’s fellow high school graduate.

Another alumnus of Choongam High School in Seoul is Kim Yong-hyun, the man who led the movement of the president’s office, became the head of the presidential security service and then was appointed defense minister in September.

Kim was one of two people who recommended that Yoon declare martial law, a senior military official said. Lee is the other.