The special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki, investigating allegations related to First Lady Kim Keon-hee, is seen leaving the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, on the 7th, following a failed attempt to arrest former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Yonhap News

The First Attempt: Ridiculing Even Legitimate Health Concerns

On August 2, 2025, former President Yoon Suk Yeol was waiting in the detention center in his undergarments due to a medical condition that made regulating his body temperature difficult—a situation the detention center authorities had acknowledged.

However, in subsequent reports to the National Assembly and media briefings, the special counsel team emphasized the scene of him "lying on the floor in his undergarments," framing it as if he were evading arrest and disregarding the law.

Although no photos or videos were leaked, this "described scene" became a tool for political mockery rather than a statement of judicial fact.

Furthermore, the fact that this entire scenario was orchestrated while he was even denied access to his legal counsel must be viewed as an act of humiliation disguised as legal procedure.

Physical Force and Intimidating Responses — The Second Attempt Was Violence, Not Procedure

On August 7, 2025, while executing a second arrest warrant, the special counsel team mobilized a CRPT tactical squad and about a dozen correctional officers to move the former president while he was still in his chair. Physical force was used, including grabbing his arms and legs, causing the former president to cry out in pain, stating that he felt as if his "arms were being torn off."

When his legal counsel protested the situation, the special counsel issued an intimidating warning, threatening to "prosecute for obstruction of justice."

The moment that the rights to defense and legal assistance—guaranteed by the Constitution—are turned into "crimes," it is clear that the state is operating not by law, but by raw power.

Like the Purge of Jang Song-thaek: An Orchestrated Ritual of Power

In North Korea, Kim Jong-un branded his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, a "factionalist" and executed him without a trial.

While there was a process, the content was a controlled theatrical performance.

The outcome served as a message of submission to authority.

The attempts to arrest former President Yoon Suk Yeol were similarly constructed as scenes with deep political significance.

Depicting his state of undress while ignoring his health, framing his refusal of the prison uniform as mockery, and threatening his lawyer's protest as a crime—these were all rituals designed to ensure that the process of the state breaking an individual is consumed as a "legal procedure."

Min Hyung-bae's 'Yoon Suk Yeol Arrest Act' — A Regime That Locks Out Opponents Through Legislation

Democratic Party lawmaker Min Hyung-bae proposed a bill that would allow correctional officers to use physical force if an arrest warrant is resisted.

This is a direct assault on the principles of proportionality and the guarantee of defense rights, which are the foundations of the rule of law.

Instead of addressing the legal controversies that arose during the first and second arrest attempts, the regime is attempting to legitimize everything by changing the law.

This is the textbook definition of legislative dictatorship.

While citizens attempt to exercise their rights through due process, the regime seeks to dominate the process itself.

Where is Democracy Headed? A Clash with International Human Rights Standards

Venezuela: Denial of access to counsel, forced arrests → Violations of International Human Rights Commissions

Hungary: Political retaliation through judicial control → EU judicial warnings

Hong Kong: Suppression of freedom of expression under the guise of arrest → UN Special Rapporteur warnings

The only difference between them and the current situation is the mere existence of a process.

However, the moment that process becomes a tool for power to orchestrate its own narrative, democracy becomes nothing more than a hollow shell.

The reality South Korea faces today is at that critical threshold.

It Is Not Yoon Suk Yeol Who Was Arrested, But the Rights of the People

What was arrested at the Seoul Detention Center was not just one former president.

Also arrested with him were the right to resist, the right to legal assistance, the right to refuse the prison uniform on health grounds, and the most basic expectations of due process.

If one uses the name of the law to arrest rights,

If one mobilizes procedure to stage humiliation,

If one turns opposing voices into crimes through legislation,

Then, in that moment, the law ceases to be justice and becomes a tool of dictatorship. 

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