Rep. Kwon Young-se, the People Power Party floor leader, enters a National Assembly hall for a meeting of the party on Wednesday. (Yonhap)
Rep. Kwon Young-se, the People Power Party floor leader, enters a National Assembly hall for a meeting of the party on Wednesday. (Yonhap)

The Democratic Party of Korea cheered as President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose impeachment is pending with the Constitutional Court, submitted to his arrest on Wednesday, 44 days after a brief declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.

The confirmation of Yoon’s impeachment following his arrest and detention is “only a matter of time,” according to Rep. Park Chan-dae, the Democratic Party floor leader.

“Yoon, who will be detained in no time, cannot escape being impeached. The fact of the matter is that he violated the Constitution before the eyes of many South Koreans,” Park said at a meeting of the entire party, referring to Yoon as the “insurrectionist-in-chief.”

The Democratic Party emphasized a message of a change. “We hope today will mark the day South Korea overcomes the crisis unleashed upon our country by the insurrectionists, and we start anew and normalize the state of things,” Rep. Jo Seoung-lae, the party’s chief spokesperson, told reporters after the meeting.

It was a contrast from the somber silence that gripped the room as People Power Party lawmakers gathered for a meeting at around the same time.

Rep. Kwon Young-se, the People Power Party floor leader, said Yoon agreeing to cooperate with the arrest efforts did not mean the warrant was not issued on questionable legal grounds.

“Yoon on this day made the decision to cooperate with the execution of the arrest warrant, although it is an illegal one, to prevent physical clashes. However, this does not mean that the president’s arrest is unjustified,” Kwon said.

Kwon pointed out the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, which is steering the martial law investigation along with police, was not authorized to investigate insurrection, the very crime that the Democratic Party is accusing Yoon of. The Seoul judge who approved the CIO’s request for Yoon’s arrest warrant also sidestepped some parts of criminal justice law, Kwon said.

The ruling party floor leader said the CIO was “likely in a desperate bid to prove itself” after the Democratic Party threatened to abolish the agency altogether over the failure to arrest Yoon the first time on Jan. 3.

Some 30 lawmakers of the People Power Party, including the party’s former leaders Reps. Na Kyung-won and Kim Gi-hyeon, joined demonstrators protesting the president’s arrest as police and CIO officials made their way into the presidential residence in Yongsan, central Seoul, early Wednesday.

The ruling party lawmakers denounced the way the investigative authorities forced their way into the presidential compound to arrest Yoon. “It’s a tragedy. It’s a day of disgrace for our country. Is it really necessary to arrest the sitting president in this manner?” Na said to reporters.

In the upcoming plenary session of the National Assembly, the Democratic Party and People Power Party are set to battle over two competing bills for opening a special counsel investigation into Yoon’s martial law declaration. In its version of the bill, the Democratic Party looks to pursue an investigation into allegations that Yoon tried to provoke war with North Korea, with which the People Power Party does not agree.