Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was released from jail on Saturday, a day after a court’s ruling that allowed him to stand trial without physical detention over his failed bid to impose martial law in December.
Waving to his supporters, Yoon walked out of the Seoul Detention Centre, 52 days after he was detained on charges of inciting an insurrection. However, impeachment and criminal trials against Yoon will continue.
Yoon’s release came shortly after Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung decided not to appeal the court’s ruling to release the suspended president.
Bowing deeply to his supporters, Yoon arrived at his official residence in central Seoul on Saturday evening.
“I appreciate the court’s courage and determination in correcting the illegality,” Yoon said in a statement.
With his release, Yoon will be able to stand trial without physical detention.
On Friday, the court said it approved Yoon’s request after determining that his January 26 indictment on insurrection charges, which allowed his detention to be extended, had come hours after the initial detention period had already expired.
The 10-day initial detention period excludes the time documents were sent to a court for a review of whether to issue an arrest warrant, pushing back the deadline of Yoon’s detention to around 9 a.m. January 26, whereas the prosecution indicted him shortly before 7 p.m. that day, according to the court.
Yoon’s legal team accused the prosecution of delaying Yoon’s release, which came 27 hours after the court’s decision.
“The president’s release is not just about addressing an individual’s injustice, but the beginning of a difficult journey to restore the collapsed rule of law in this country,” the team said in a release.
The ruling People Power Party welcomed Yoon’s release and urged the Constitutional Court to take the court’s decision into consideration in the impeachment trial.
“It is a just decision and the party hopes it serves as an opportunity to correct the distorted rule of law,” party spokesperson Shin Dong-wook said in a statement, Yonhap news agency reported.
In contrast, the main opposition Democratic Party strongly criticised the prosecution for exacerbating the nation’s crisis with Yoon’s release and called for the Constitutional Court to formally impeach him in its upcoming decision.
The top court is expected to decide whether to remove Yoon from office or reinstate him later this month after wrapping up hearings on February 25
