What you need to know about the arrest of South Korea's Yoon

An effigy of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is covered in snow during a protest against him near his official residence on a snowy day in Seoul, South Korea, January 5, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean investigators arrested impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday for alleged insurrection over his bid to impose martial law, ending weeks of defiance and claims by Yoon and his lawyers that the arrest warrant was invalid.

Yoon and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO), which is probing his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3, are at odds over whether the CIO has the authority to arrest and pursue criminal charges against a president.