SEOUL - South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday as part of an investigation into alleged insurrection and in between being questioned the suspended leader is expected to be held in a solitary cell at a detention centre.
While he is the first incumbent president to be arrested in South Korea, other high-profile figures including former President Park Geun-hye and Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee have also spent time in the Seoul Detention Centre.
The following is what is expected to unfold for the former prosecutor-turned president in coming days.
SOFA IN QUESTIONING AREA
Yoon has been taken to the offices of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) that is leading the investigation into his role in declaring martial law on Dec. 3.
The CIO is an independent agency launched in 2021 to investigate high-ranking officials including the president and their family members but it does not have authority to prosecute the president and must refer any case to the prosecutors' office for further action.
The office is located in a sprawling government complex in Gwacheon which borders the capital Seoul, about 10 minutes by police motorcade from the president's official residence.
Media reports said the entire questioning will likely be video recorded, in order to avoid any dispute over the testimony by the former career prosecutor.
The interrogation facilities include a newly created rest area with a sofa to accommodate Yoon, Yonhap News Agency reported.
SOLITARY JAIL CELL
Authorities have 48 hours to question Yoon, after which they must seek a warrant to detain him for up to 20 days or release him.
While in custody, Yoon is expected to be held in the Seoul Detention Centre, although Yonhap said there may not be time for him to go there within 48 hours if questioning runs long.
The facility, despite its name, is in the city of Uiwang, 22 km (14 miles) south of Seoul.
According to precedent and due to his status, Yoon will probably be assigned a solitary cell, likely bigger and better appointed than the standard 6.56 square metre (71 square feet) single cells.
On arrival at the detention centre, Yoon will go through the formality of an ID check and a simple health examination, and join the life of a pre-trial detainee rising at 6:30 a.m. and with lights out at 9 p.m.
2,500 CALORIES
The Korea Correctional Service, which operates the country's prisons and detention centres, says in its ...