South Korea’s impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol has been released from custody after a Seoul court reversed his arrest on technical grounds.
Yoon was released on Saturday to shouts from his followers, but he remains on trial for insurrection charges stemming from his unsuccessful effort to install martial law in December.
He was apprehended in January in a dawn raid at the presidential palace, following a stressful week in which he resisted being taken in and clashed with his security detail and police.
But he was released on Saturday after 52 days in detention. “I bow my head in gratitude to the people of this nation,” he said in a statement issued by his lawyers after his release.
After waving to supporters outside the center, he was escorted in an official convoy back to Seoul’s presidential compound, where he was greeted by additional supporters.
On Saturday, more than 50,000 protestors rallied in his support in the capital, with a significantly smaller counter-protest, Yonhap reported.
Mr. Yoon’s lawyers gained his release by contending that his detention was illegal. The judges agreed based on a number of legal technicalities, while the prosecutors criticized the decision as “unjust.”
He will face trial later this year for attempting to impose martial law in a democracy. It lasted only six hours but polarized the country.
Mr. Yoon, despite being suspended from office, remains South Korea’s president in name.
The Constitutional Court will decide whether to uphold his impeachment and formally remove him from office, which is expected in the coming days.
Despite the court cases, Mr. Yoon’s supporters have rallied around him, and authorities are bracing themselves.
