Asian Insider: Is President Yoon’s arrest legal? | Clueless about Asean

Dear ST reader,

One day after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s dramatic arrest that made him the first sitting president in South Korea to be taken into custody, he has asked the Seoul Central District Court to review his detention.

While the Jan 15 arrest may appear to be a triumph on the part of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, questions remain over the agency’s legitimacy in its actions against Mr Yoon. Wendy Teo cites Seoul National University law professor Lee Jae-min as calling the arrest “just the beginning of a legal saga to come”. 

Fighting between Israel and Hamas continues in Gaza ahead of a ceasefire and hostage release deal which is expected to come into force on Jan 19. While it is the most significant breakthrough in 15 months of war, Jonathan Eyal says that the fragile ceasefire agreement merely signals the continuation of an old Middle East war by other means.

US President Joe Biden was forced to share credit with President-elect Donald Trump for the Israel-Hamas multi-phase ceasefire, which was announced hours before Mr Biden’s farewell address to Americans, Bhagyashree Garekar notes.

“It was a rare display of cooperative spirit between the Biden and Trump teams – united in their desire for a Gaza deal before the presidential inauguration on Jan 20 – that constrained the wiggle room of both Hamas and Israel,” said Mr Shalom Lipner, senior fellow at the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative of the Atlantic Council.

Before I let you go, here’s a question for you: How many nations are there in Asean?  Well, if you can name at least one, you sure know Asean better than Trump’s nominee for defence secretary, Mr Pete Hegseth.