Shortly after the court’s decision was announced around 3 a.m. (1800 GMT) on Sunday, his supporters swarmed the building, overwhelming riot police trying to keep them at bay.
Footage showed protesters blasting fire extinguishers at lines of police guarding the front entrance, before they flooded inside, destroying office equipment and furniture.
Police, who restored order a few hours later, said they had so far arrested 46 protesters.
“We will track down till the end more of those who committed illegal acts or instigated and assisted,” the Seoul Metropolitan Police said in a statement. There were around 40 minor injuries sustained during the chaos but no serious injuries reported, an emergency responder near the court said. With a requirement either to petition to extend Yoon’s detention or free the impeached president within 48 hours, South Korean investigators asked a Seoul court on Friday to hold him for longer after he refused to be questioned.
After a 5-hour hearing on Saturday, which Yoon attended, the Seoul Western District Court opted to grant the investigators’ request due to “concern that the suspect may destroy evidence,” the court said in a statement.
Under the new warrant, Yoon can be detained for up to 20 days. South Korean regulations require a suspect detained under a warrant to undergo a physical exam, have a mugshot taken and wear a prison uniform.
The leader is expected to continue to be held in a solitary cell at the Seoul Detention Centre.
“President Yoon Suk Yeol and our legal team will never give up,” lawyers representing Yoon, who have called the criminal probe invalid, said in a statement.
“We will do our best in all future judicial procedures to correct the wrong,” the lawyers said, adding that the violence at the court was an “unfortunate” incident.
Yoon’s conservative People Power Party called the court’s decision a “great pity”.
“There’s a question whether repercussions of detaining a sitting president were sufficiently considered,” the party said in a statement.
But the main opposition Democratic Party called the court’s approval on the warrant a “cornerstone” for rebuilding order and said that “riots” by “far-right” groups would only deepen the national crisis.
Support for the PPP collapsed after his martial law declaration, which he rescinded hours later in the face of a unanimous vote in parliament rejecting it. Lawmakers impeached Yoon on Dec. 14, suspending his presidential powers.
But in the turmoil since – in which the opposition-majority parliament also impeached his first replacement and investigators botched an initial attempt to arrest Yoon – the PPP’s support has sharply rebounded.
His party has edged ahead of the opposition Democratic Party in support – 39% to 36% – for the first time since August, a Gallup Korea poll showed on Friday.
Denying the allegations that he masterminded insurrection, Yoon has so far stonewalled efforts by the CIO to interrogate him, refusing to attend questioning.
His lawyers have argued the arrest is illegal because the warrant was issued in the wrong jurisdiction and the investigating team had no mandate for their probe.
Insurrection, the crime that Yoon may be charged with, is one of the few that a South Korean president does not have immunity from and is technically punishable by death. South Korea, however, has not executed anyone in nearly 30 years.
Separate to the criminal probe that sparked Sunday’s chaos, the Constitutional Court is deliberating over whether to uphold the impeachment and permanently remove him or restore his powers.
