South Korea’s Yoon arrested after weeks of drama, tensions

South Korean authorities have arrested impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, making him the first government head in the country to face such ordeal, ending weeks of standoff with his security team and supporters.

A previous arrest attempt failed on 3 January as Yoon’s security forces resisted police, and Wednesday morning attempt succeeded only after clashes erupted between the rival state security forces, prompting the suspended president to hand him over.

Yoon faces charges of insurrection following an attempt to impose martial law that only lasted three hours on 3 December last year.

In a pre-recorded video message released by Yoon's aides following his arrest, the suspended president said he stopped holding out against investigators' attempts to arrest him in order to prevent a violent escalation. He also maintained that the arrest was illegitimate, though.

On Wednesday morning, while dozens of ruling party lawmakers formed a human wall in front of the compound to block investigators from reaching Yoon, some managed to get access to the presidential residence through a nearby hiking trail, local media reported.

Yoon's security service had already fortified his compound using barbed wire and buses as barricades.

But investigators and police showed up this morning with the tools to overcome these obstacles: wire cutters and ladders.

They bypassed the parked buses by climbing over them, and cut through barbed wire.

Investigators got involved in a "physical clash" as they tried to forcibly enter the residence, Yonhap reported, without specifying who with.

Punches were thrown as the rival sides pushed each other in the clashes between investigators and those defending the residence, an AFP journalist saw.

At least one person was injured after collapsing during the standoff. They were transported away by fire authorities.

Yoon's lawyers were seen in front of the residence protesting the arrest warrant's execution, and later a white police van tried to enter the compound without success.

Choi, standing in for suspended Yoon, said those who caused any unrest at the site would be punished.

"If there are serious violations leading to unfortunate incidents, I will hold them strictly accountable as the acting president," he said.

A first attempt to arrest Yoon on January 3 failed after a tense hours-long standoff with his Presidential Security Service (PSS), who refused to budge when investigators tried to execute their warrant.