Yoon’s detention, after a tense standoff outside the presidential residence, marks the latest chapter in a bewildering series of events since his martial law decree.

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday as part of an investigation into alleged insurrection and in between being questioned the suspended leader is expected to be held in a solitary cell at a detention centre.

The development, which followed a failed arrest attempt earlier in January, deepens the fallout from his short-lived declaration of martial law last month.