Seoul Detention Center Becomes Hotspot Amid Yoon's Detention...Netizens Say "Jo Guk, Kim Ho-jung, Yoo Ah-in Are Also Here"

Called a Gathering Place for "Beomteol" Including Politicians and Celebrities
Authorities Formulating Detention Plans Amid Unprecedented Situation

President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was arrested on charges of rebellion and abuse of authority, was transferred to Seoul Detention Center after being investigated by the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Division (PACC). Amid this, public attention is focused on the Seoul Detention Center where President Yoon is being held.

At 10:33 a.m. on the 15th, President Yoon was arrested by the PACC. The PACC began investigating President Yoon from 11 a.m. The customary tea time held as a presidential courtesy before the investigation was also omitted. It is known that the questionnaire prepared by the PACC amounted to about 200 pages, signaling a rigorous investigation. However, President Yoon reportedly refused video recording during the investigation and exercised his right to remain silent. Since the PACC must decide whether to request an arrest warrant within 48 hours of the arrest, they plan to file for the warrant by the morning of the 17th.

President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was arrested by the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency on charges of leading a rebellion, arrived at Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi Province on the afternoon of the 15th after completing his first day of investigation. Photo by Yonhap News

President Yoon is expected to be held alone in the detainee room for suspects at Seoul Detention Center until the warrant hearing takes place. The Ministry of Justice is expected to assign him a single cell within the detention center to separate him from other inmates if the arrest warrant is issued. However, since there has never been a case of a sitting president being imprisoned, it is reported that plans for his detention are still being formulated.

On the same day the news of the president's arrest was announced, many satirical posts about the current situation appeared on online communities. Among them was a post titled "Current Seoul Detention Center Inmate List." Even though the investigation of President Yoon has not concluded, his name was quickly added to the inmate list published on Namuwiki.

Seoul Detention Center is known as a place where high-profile figures such as politicians, senior officials, and businesspeople investigated by the former Supreme Prosecutors' Office Central Investigation Division or the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Special Investigation Division mainly pass through. It is colloquially called a gathering place for "Beomteol" (a slang term referring to inmates who are wealthy and socially influential). Currently, the detention center holds politicians such as Cho Kuk, former leader of the Innovation Party, Song Young-gil, former member of the Democratic Party, and Yoon Kwan-seok, former member of the National Assembly, as well as suspects of violent crimes including Jo Sun, suspect in the "2023 Sillim Station stabbing incident," Choi Yoon-jong, suspect in the "Sillim-dong park rape and murder case," and Kim Gil-soo, suspect in the "special robbery case."

Seoul Detention Center is known as a gathering place for so-called "Beomteol" (a slang term referring to inmates who are wealthy and hold high social status), as it mainly houses high-profile figures such as politicians, senior officials, and business leaders who were investigated by the former Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office or the Special Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. Even though the investigation into President Yoon has not yet concluded, his name was listed early on in the inmate roster published on Namuwiki. Namuwiki

In addition, celebrities who caused social controversies such as singer Kim Ho-joong, accused of drunk driving hit-and-run, actor Yoo Ah-in, accused of drug use, and former baseball player Oh Jae-won are also serving time. Furthermore, Seoul Detention Center has a death row facility where unexecuted death row inmates such as Kang Ho-soon, Yoo Young-chul, Jung Doo-young, and Jung Hyung-gu are held. Netizens who saw the inmate list reacted with comments like "The lineup is impressive," "That place is the real hot spot," "Rebellion charges are just the tip of the iceberg," and "Even top influencers wouldn’t dare show their business cards there."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.