SEOUL
\nSouth Korea\u2019s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol had his mug shot taken and underwent a physical check before spending his first night in jail as a criminal suspect, a prison officer said Monday.
\nYoon was arrested in a dawn raid last week, becoming the first sitting South Korean head of state to be detained in a criminal probe on insurrection charges over his botched declaration of martial law.
\nA court approved his formal arrest warrant Sunday, citing concerns he would destroy evidence, and Yoon went from being a temporary detainee to a criminal suspect facing an indictment and trial.
\nYoon was given a 12-square-metre (129-square-feet) cell at Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang on Sunday, according to Shin Yong-hae, commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service.
\nHe was \u201cassigned to one of the standard rooms used by regular inmates,\u201d Shin told lawmakers during a parliamentary session.
\nYoon\u2019s cell \u2014 which typically would hold five or six people, Yonhap reported \u2014 is similar in size to those where past presidents have been detained, Shin said.
\nThe suspended leader, whose powers have been transferred to an acting president but who remains sitting head of state, also had his mug shot taken and underwent physical examination like his fellow inmates, Shin said.
\n\u201cThe individual cooperated well with the procedures without any particular issues,\u201d Shin said.
\nAccording to prison regulations, Yoon will have to change from his normal clothes into a khaki prison uniform, and he will also have been assigned an inmate number.
\nPrison officials have said his cell includes a small table to use for eating and studying, a small shelf, a sink and a toilet. It also includes a television, but viewing time is strictly restricted.
\nInmates are allowed to go out for an hour every day for exercise, and shower once a week, but local media have reported that authorities will attempt to prevent him coming into contact with other inmates.
\nHis personal security detail will accompany him whenever he leaves his cell, reports say.<\/p>\n
Court attack
\nYoon plunged South Korea into political chaos with his December 3 martial law declaration, which lasted just six hours before lawmakers voted it down. They later impeached him, stripping him of duties.
\nHe faces a Constitutional Court case deciding whether to uphold his impeachment, and also a criminal investigation on insurrection charges, over which he has been detained.
\nYoon has claimed the probe is illegal, and resisted arrest for weeks, vowing to \u201cfight to the end\u201d. His die-hard supporters attacked the court building Sunday after it extended Yoon\u2019s detention.
\nDozens of people, including YouTube streamers, have been arrested over a riot at a Seoul court, police said Monday, and 51 police officers were injured in the attack, including some with head injuries and fractures.
\nUp to 35,000 of his supporters were outside the court Saturday, according to a police document seen by AFP.
\nAfter the formal arrest warrant was issued early Sunday, some 300 people gathered near the rear entrance and began \u201cthrowing objects such as glass bottles, rocks, and chairs into the court grounds,\u201d according to the police report.
\n\u201cSome 100 protesters entered the court premises, smashing windows of the first floor, damaging the walls and entering inside the building,\u201d said the police.
\nYoon declined to attend questioning Monday, his lawyers said, with the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) \u2014 the body in charge of the probe \u2014 saying it would consider a \u201cforced summons\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEOUL South Korea\u2019s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol had his mug shot taken and underwent a physical check before spending his first night in jail as a criminal suspect, a prison officer said Monday. Yoon was arrested in a dawn raid last week, becoming the first sitting South Korean head of state to be detained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-456708","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n