In short:
South Korea's impeached President President Yoon Suk Yeol has been taken to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) for questioning related to his short-lived martial law declaration in December.
Mr Yoon's detention followed an hours-long stand off between hundreds of officials and the president's supporters.
What's next?
Authorities have 48 hours to question Mr Yoon, after which they must seek a warrant to detain him for a further 20 days.
South Korea's anti-corruption agency says impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has been detained over insurrection accusations related to his December 3 martial law declaration but is refusing to speak to investigators.
His arrest is the first ever for an incumbent South Korean president.
South Korea's impeached president and his shamans
Photo shows A man in suit waving South Korean national flag.
A defiant Mr Yoon said he submitted himself for questioning on Wednesday to avoid any violence after more than 3,000 police officers marched on his residence to arrest him.
The embattled leader said he agreed to comply with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) to avoid "bloodshed".
"When I saw them break into the security area using firefighting equipment today, I decided to respond to the CIO's investigation — despite it being an illegal investigation — to prevent unsavoury bloodshed," Mr Yoon said in a statement.
Following an hours-long stand-off at the presidential compound's gate, hundreds of law enforcement officials in South Korea entered Mr Yoon's residential compound in the capital Seoul, marking a dramatic escalation in the investigation surrounding the embattled leader.
Yoon Suk Yeol was seen arriving at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials after his arrest. (Reuters)
Mr Yoon's motorcade was later seen leaving his residence in an upscale area known as Seoul's Beverly Hills.
It arrived at the investigators' office but was quickly surrounded by security and moved to the back of the building, where Mr Yoon slipped in, evading the waiting media.
Authorities have 48 hours to question Mr Yoon, after which they must seek a warrant to detain him for up to 20 days or release him.
However, Mr Yoon is refusing to talk and has not agreed to have interviews with investigators recorded on video, a CIO official said.
The CIO said it had no information on why Mr Yoon was refusing to talk.
Mr Yoon's lawyers have said the arrest warrant is illegal because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction and the team set up to investigate him had no legal mandate to do so.Â
A warrant to search Mr Yoon at his residence, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, referred to Mr Yoon as "ringleader of insurrection".
Presidential guards were stationed on the CIO floor where Mr Yoon was being questioned, a CIO official said, but he will likely be held at Seoul Detention Centre, where other high-profile figures including former president Park Geun-hye and Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y Lee have also spent time.
Yoon Suk Yeol had not left the presidential compound for weeks. (Reuters: South Korea Presidential Office, file)
Police vowed to use more force to detain president
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials and police are jointly investigating whether Mr Yoon's brief martial law declaration amounted to an attempted rebellion.
They pledged more forceful measures to detain him after the presidential security service blocked their initial efforts on January 3.
Mr Yoon has continued to receive plenty of support. Â (AP Photo: Lee Jin-man)
Mr Yoon has justified his martial law decree as a legitimate act of governance against an "anti-state" opposition bogging down his agenda with its legislative majority, with him vowing to "fight to the end" against efforts to oust him.
Despite a court warrant for Mr Yoon's detention, the presidential security service insisted it was obligated to protect the impeached president and it fortified his compound with barbed wire and rows of buses blocking paths.
As tensions escalated, South Korea's acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, issued a statement urging law enforcement officers and the presidential security service to ensure there were no "physical clashes".
Saga began with martial law declaration
Mr Yoon declared martial law and deployed troops around the National Assembly on December 3.
It lasted only hours before politicians managed to get through the blockade and vote to lift the measure.
Police officers stand guard near the official residence. (Reuters: Tyrone Siu)
Mr Yoon's presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on December 14, accusing him of rebellion.
Separately, the Constitutional Court is deliberating whether to uphold that impeachment and permanently remove him from office or restore his presidential powers.
Mr Yoon had not left his official residence in Seoul for weeks before his arrest, and the presidential security service prevented dozens of investigators from detaining him during a nearly six-hour stand-off on January 3.
The National Police Agency had convened multiple meetings of field commanders in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province in recent days to plan their detainment efforts. The size of those forces fuelled speculation that more than a thousand officers could be deployed in a possible multi-day operation.
The agency and police openly warned that presidential bodyguards obstructing the execution of the warrant could be arrested.
Supporters and police gathered before dawn
The latest arrest attempt that began before dawn gripped the nation, with hundreds of thousands glued to live feeds showing bus loads of police arriving near the presidential residence, pushing past Yoon supporters and then walking towards the gates of the compound carrying ladders and wire cutters.
Throngs of those protesters gathered in the sub-zero temperatures, some wrapped in foil blankets and others waving flags bearing "Stop the Steal" slogans referring to Mr Yoon's unsubstantiated claims of election fraud — one of the reasons he gave to justify his short-lived martial law declaration.
MPs from Mr Yoon's People Power Party, along with at least one of his lawyers, were seen at the residence's gate, apparently arguing with anti-corruption officials and police officers attempting to enter.
Hundreds of Mr Yoon's supporters and critics held competing protests — one side vowing to protect him, the other calling for his imprisonment, while thousands of police officers in yellow jackets closely monitored the situation, setting up perimeters with buses.
Some MPs were at Mr Yoon's residence in a show of support for the impeached president. (Reuters: Tyrone Siu)
As local news broadcasters reported that Mr Yoon's detention was imminent, some minor scuffles broke out between pro-Yoon protesters and police near the residence, according to a Reuters witness at the scene.
Some of Mr Yoon's supporters have drawn parallels with his plight and that of US president-elect Donald Trump, who also claimed voter fraud contributed to his election defeat in 2020 but recovered to make a stunning political comeback.
"It is very sad to see our country falling apart," said Kim Woo-sub, a 70-year-old retiree protesting against Mr Yoon's arrest outside his residence.
"I still have high expectations for Trump to support our president. Election fraud is something they have in common but also the US needs South Korea to fight China," he said.
Police officers and investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials used ladders to climb over buses parked outside Yoon Suk Yeol's residence. (Reuters: Yonhap)
Yoon Suk Yeol's bodyguards had fortified his residence. (Reuters: Yonhap)
Despite polls showing a majority of South Koreans disapprove of Mr Yoon's martial law declaration and support his impeachment, the political stand-off has given oxygen to his supporters and his People Power Party has seen a revival in recent weeks.
Support for the PPP stood at 40.8 per cent in the latest Realmeter poll released on Monday, while the main opposition Democratic Party's support stood at 42.2 per cent, within a margin of error and down from a gap of 10.8 per cent from last week, the poll said.
AP/Reuters
