Kang Gijeong on Yoon Seokyeol's Detention: "A Scene Quickly Returning to Its Place"

Special Prosecutor: "Kim Keonhee Also Notified of Detention... Yoon to Be Questioned on the 11th"

As former President Yoon Seokyeol was rearrested on charges of insurrection, Mayor Kang Gijeong of Gwangju briefly commented on the changing political landscape, describing it as "a scene quickly returning to its place."

On the 1st, at the Geosigi Hall of the Biennale Exhibition Hall in Buk-gu, Gwangju, Mayor Kang Gijeong of Gwangju is speaking at the resident discussion meeting on the Honam Expressway expansion project. Photo by Yonhap News

On the morning of July 10, Mayor Kang posted the sentence "Colonel Park Junghoon is acquitted, Yoon Seokyeol is detained" on his social networking service (SNS) account. He also expressed his intention to continue field visits, stating, "I will visit the sites exhausted by the heat."

Earlier, at approximately 2:07 a.m. on the same day, Judge Nam Sejin, the judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, issued an arrest warrant for the former president. The charges include abuse of power, obstruction of special official duties, and the creation and use of false official documents. Judge Nam explained, "There is sufficient reason to suspect that the crimes listed in the warrant were committed, and there is concern about the destruction of evidence."

Former President Yoon Seokyeol, who is under special investigation related to the December 3 emergency martial law, is leaving the court after the pretrial detention hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 9th. Photo by Yonhap News

At around 3 a.m., the special prosecutor team led by Cho Eonseok executed the arrest warrant at Seoul Detention Center. Special Prosecutor Park Jiyeong for insurrection explained, "The arrest warrant was executed by a correctional officer under the direction of the special prosecutor," adding, "We also notified his spouse, Kim Keonhee, and his legal counsel of the arrest by mail." Special Prosecutor Park stated, "Within the limits of what is generally accepted by society, the investigation will take into account the former president's status, but otherwise will proceed no differently from other suspects." The full-scale investigation is scheduled to begin on July 11.

During the pretrial detention hearing, the special prosecutor reportedly submitted footage of a cabinet meeting from the announcement of the real-name financial system by the Kim Youngsam administration in 1993 as evidence to prove that former President Yoon excluded certain cabinet members from the decision-making process on the martial law declaration, thereby violating the cabinet's deliberative authority. This is interpreted as a rebuttal to the claims Yoon made during the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial in February.

Former President Yoon was rearrested 124 days after his release on March 8, following a court decision to cancel his previous detention.