South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday in a large police operation, with the embattled leader defiantly insisting an investigation into him is illegal and he only complied to prevent violence.
His arrest, the first for an incumbent president, is the latest episode of turmoil for one of Asia's most vibrant democracies, which has a history of prosecuting and imprisoning former leaders.
In a video message recorded before he was escorted to the headquarters of South Korea's anti-corruption agency, Mr Yoon said the “rule of law has completely collapsed in this country”.
The operation to arrest Mr Yoon involved about 3,000 police officers after he had been holed up for weeks at his residence in Seoul while vowing to “fight to the end” against efforts to oust him. He had been guarded by a small army of personal security that blocked a previous arrest attempt.
The saga began on December 3 when Mr Yoon declared martial law for the first time in 44 years, saying it was needed to tackle “anti-state” opposition using their legislative majority to thwart his political agenda. He deployed troops around the National Assembly but legislators managed to get through the blockade and vote to lift the measure.
His declaration shocked South Koreans, rattled Asia's fourth largest economy and started an unprecedented period of political turmoil.
Parliament impeached Mr Yoon on December 14 over the martial law attempt and his presidential powers were suspended. The Constitutional Court is deliberating on whether to uphold that impeachment and permanently remove him from office or restore his powers.
Wednesday's arrest attempt began before dawn, with hundreds of thousands of South Koreans watching live feeds showing bus loads of police arriving near the presidential residence, pushing past Mr Yoon's supporters and walking towards the gates carrying ladders and wire cutters.
Anti-corruption investigators and police officers engaged in an hours-long standoff at the compound’s gate with presidential security forces but otherwise encountered no meaningful resistance.
Some police officers used ladders to climb over rows of buses placed by the presidential security service near the compound’s entrance. Despite a court warrant for Mr Yoon’s detention, the presidential security service had insisted it was obligated to protect him.
Anti-graft officials said Mr Yoon was brought into custody about five hours after investigators arrived at the presidential compound and about three hours after they successfully entered his residence.
A convoy of black SUVs, some equipped with sirens, were seen leaving the compound with police escorts. Mr Yoon was later seen stepping out of a vehicle after arriving at the agency’s office in the nearby city of Gwacheon. He was expected to be sent to a detention centre in Uiwang, near Seoul.
The president was being held for questioning on Wednesday afternoon but was refusing to talk, an anti-corruption official told Reuters. Mr Yoon could be kept in custody for weeks. The anti-graft agency, which is leading a joint investigation with police and the military over whether the martial law declaration amounted to an attempted rebellion, has 48 hours to request a court order for a formal arrest. If it fails to do so, Mr Yoon will be released.
Mr Yoon’s lawyers have claimed that a detainment warrant issued by a Seoul court was invalid. They said the anti-corruption agency had no legal authority to investigate rebellion allegations.
“I am truly appalled to see illegalities upon illegalities upon illegalities being carried out and procedures being forcefully conducted under an invalid warrant,” Mr Yoon said in the video. “My decision to comply with such illegal and invalid procedures is not an acknowledgement of them, but rather a willingness to prevent unfortunate and bloody incidents.”
South Korea’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, on Wednesday urged law enforcement and the presidential security service to ensure there were no “physical clashes”.
Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the liberal opposition Democratic Party, which drove the legislative campaign that led to Mr Yoon’s impeachment on December 14, said his detention was the “first step towards restoring constitutional order, democracy and realising the rule of law”.
The Constitutional Court held its first formal hearing on the impeachment case on Tuesday, but the session lasted less than five minutes because Mr Yoon refused to attend. The next hearing is set for Thursday, and the court will then proceed with the trial whether or not Mr Yoon is there.
Minor scuffles broke out between pro-Yoon protesters and police near the presidential residence on Wednesday, a Reuters reporter said. Throngs of those protesters had gathered before dawn in sub-zero temperatures.
“It is very sad to see our country falling apart,” said Kim Woo-sub, 70, who was protesting against Mr Yoon's arrest.
- With agencies
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
The years Ramadan fell in May
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
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The specs
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Transmission: CVT auto
Power: 181bhp
Torque: 244Nm
Price: Dh122,900
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
Saturday 15 January: v Canada
Thursday 20 January: v England
Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly, Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya Shetty, Kai Smith
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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Starfield
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
DUBAI%20BLING%3A%20EPISODE%201
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Director: Romany Saad
Starring: Mirfat Amin, Boumi Fouad and Tariq Al Ibyari
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