President of South Korea released from custody

SEOUL – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol emerged from a detention centre in Seoul on Saturday after prosecutors chose not to contest a court ruling that annulled the arrest warrant for the impeached leader on insurrection charges.

Yoon continues to be suspended from office, and his criminal and impeachment trials are ongoing based on his brief declaration of martial law on Dec 3.

The Seoul Central District Court rejected Yoon’s arrest warrant on Friday, questioning the timing of his indictment and the “legitimacy” of the investigation process.

“First, I’d like to thank the Central District Court for their courage and determination in overturning the illegality,” Yoon said in a statement.

His lawyers said the ruling “confirmed that the president’s detainment was problematic in both procedural and substantive aspects”, calling the verdict the “beginning of a journey to restore rule of law”.

Prosecutors could not immediately be reached for a comment.

In Yoon’s impeachment trial, the Constitutional Court is likely to rule in coming days on whether to restore him to office or oust him.

Yoon has been in custody since Jan 15 and is South Korea’s first president to be detained in office.

Thirty-eight thousand Yoon partisan gathered in Seoul on Saturday, while 1,500 others protested him, according to unofficial police estimates cited by the Yonhap news agency.