South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol arrested after hours-long standoff at residence

South Korea’s impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has been arrested and is being questioned over his ill-fated declaration of martial law last month, anti-corruption investigators said on Wednesday, bringing to an end an early-morning standoff outside his official residence in Seoul.

His detention makes him the first sitting president in the nation’s history to be arrested.

Officials from the corruption investigation office (CIO) said Yoon refused to talk during two and a half hours of questioning and refused to be filmed. Officials did not give further details as to why he remained silent.

Yoon can be held for questioning for up to 48 hours on the existing arrest warrant. Authorities must then decide whether to release him or seek a fresh warrant to detain him for up to 20 days.