\n<\/p>\n
As president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol lived in a luxurious hilltop mansion, threw parties and had a small army of personal guards. These days, he is alone in a 107-square-foot jail cell, eating simple food like noodles and kimchi soup, and sleeping on the floor.<\/p>\n
This will be his new reality for a while yet, after he was formally arrested on insurrection charges early Sunday as part of an investigation into his ill-fated declaration of martial law last month.<\/p>\n
Mr. Yoon, 64, has been in the Seoul Detention Center, a government-run jail south of Seoul, since Wednesday, when he became the first sitting president<\/a> in South Korean history to be detained in a criminal investigation. When a district court in Seoul issued the warrant to arrest him, he went from being a temporary detainee to a criminal suspect facing an indictment and trial.<\/p>\n That change in status means Mr. Yoon is unlikely to leave jail any time soon. Within the next 18 days, criminal investigators and prosecutors are expected to indict him on charges of leading an insurrection during his short-lived martial law<\/a> last month. If he is convicted, he will face life imprisonment or \u200bthe death penalty.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Yoon\u2019s new circumstances symbolize his dramatic fall from grace: from a swaggering head of state to an impeached president to an inmate accused of committing one of the worst offenses in South Korea\u2019s criminal code. He is the first South Korean to face insurrection charges since the former military dictator Chun Doo-hwan<\/a>, who was convicted in the 1990s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n As president, Mr. Yoon loved to throw parties, often inviting like-minded politicians to evening drinks and even cooking and serving \u200brolled egg<\/a> and barbecue to his presidential press corps. He showed off his well-honed entertaining skills \u200babroad when he belted out \u201cAmerican Pie<\/a>\u201d during a state dinner at the White House in 2023.\u200b<\/p>\n On Sunday, \u200bMr. Yoon will wake up \u200bnot to presidential aides and chefs catering to his needs, but to a simple jail breakfast likely to consist of dumpling soup, dried radish and cabbage kimchi. \u200bAn average meal in jail costs $1.20.<\/p>\n The dramatic political upheaval he unleash\u200bed appears to have stunned him as much as everyday South Koreans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIronically, it was after I was impeached that I truly realized\u200b that I am, indeed, the president,\u201d Mr. Yoon said in a lengthy statement<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Many South Korean politicians and dignitaries\u200b \u2014 including two former presidents and Lee Jae-yong, the head of the Samsung conglomerate\u200b \u2014 have been held at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, a city south of Seoul. When he was a prosecutor, Mr. Yoon helped put one of the two former presidents, Park Geun-hye<\/a>, there on corruption charges. The jail also holds some of the country\u2019s most infamous death row inmates\u200b, including serial killers.<\/p>\n \u200bGovernment officials said Mr. Yoon would get no special treatment, except that he \u200bwould be kept in a room of his own, away from other detainees and inmates.\u200b After his formal arrest, he was expected to go through a simple medical checkup and receive a toothbrush and other necessities for \u200bjail life\u200b. He would be assigned an inmate number\u200b and a pea\u200b-green\u200b jail uniform.<\/p>\n His cell will have a TV set, a sink, a small cupboard, a reading desk that doubles as a dinner table, and a foldable mattress for sleeping. The cell has a toilet but no shower. The space will be monitored around the clock through closed-circuit television. There is exercise time and visiting hours.<\/p>\n