South Korea’s Yoon spends first night behind bars, still guarded by Presidential Security Service

SEOUL - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol spent his first night behind bars at the Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang, Gyeonggi province, as the first sitting president in the country’s history to

be put behind bars

while under criminal investigation.

It was reported that he is being kept alone in a waiting room – a 19 sq m area where suspects are temporarily held. The current detention warrant allows for Mr Yoon to be kept in custody for up to 48 hours, which is until around 10.30am (9.30am Singapore time) on Jan 17. If an extension of his detention is allowed with an official arrest warrant, he may be moved to a regular cell, where he could be locked up for up to 20 days before indictment.

While it is customary for correctional facilities and detention centres in South Korea to have multiple inmates share a room, former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak were kept in a room by themselves when they were incarcerated.

Hence, Mr Yoon is widely expected to be allocated a room by himself at the Seoul Detention Centre, if the court issues a warrant to continue his detention beyond the current 48 hours.

The impeached President

refused to make or sign any type of statement

during interrogation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).

He reportedly ate a lunchbox provided by the CIO for lunch and doenjang-jjigae (fermented soya bean paste stew) that the agency ordered for him for dinner on Jan 15. For breakfast on Jan 16, he started the day with the same meal provided for all inmates in the Seoul Detention Centre – cereal, boiled eggs, nuts and milk.

The Presidential Security Service plans to guard Mr Yoon for the entire time he is being held at the detention centre. Officials followed him as he was taken there, and were seen entering the centre, supposedly to examine the structure and identify any potential risks in the facility.

The presidential bodyguards and Seoul Detention Centre officials plan to discuss the details of guarding Mr Yoon, the specifics of which will reportedly not be made public. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK