A court in Seoul has extended the detention of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol over his failed attempt to impose martial law in the country last month.
Citing concerns that Yun might destroy evidence if released, a judge on Sunday issued an order allowing investigators to hold the ousted president in custody for up to 20 days.
The 64-year-old was arrested on Wednesday after a weeks-long standoff between investigators and his presidential security team.
Supporters of the president stormed the court after his detention was extended, reportedly smashing windows and doors in an incident condemned by Yun and the country's sitting president.
The order – and Yoon's subsequent refusal to comply with investigators – is the latest development in a saga that has left South Korea reeling from political crisis.
The order was issued around 03:00 local time (18:00 GMT on Saturday).
The ousted president is being investigated by the Corruption Perceptions Office (CIO) on sedition charges over a failed Dec. 3 martial law order that plunged the country into turmoil.
He was removed from parliament and removed from office, but will only be removed from office if the constitutional court upholds the impeachment.
Investigators now have 20 days — including the four days Yun has already spent in custody since his arrest — to bring the president to justice.
After his detention was extended, Yoon's lawyer, Yoon Gap-gyun, told Yonhap news agency that the president would refuse to be questioned by the CIO.
Pro-Yoon supporters gathered outside the courthouse in the run-up to the ruling, with many entering the building after the judges granted the extension.
Journalists at the scene reported seeing dozens of people arrested by police after the incident.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok expressed “deep regret” for the violence, “which is unimaginable in a democratic society”, adding that authorities would increase security around future demonstrations.
Choi only recently took the top job after South Korea's parliament voted in favor impeachment of the previous sitting president, Han Duk-suover allegations of thwarting Yun's impeachment trial.
Yoon was “shocked” by the scenes in court, his lawyer said, and urged his supporters to express themselves peacefully, according to local media.
The incident is the latest episode in a series of attempts by Yun's supporters to thwart legal proceedings against the president.
The night before his arrest, hundreds of pro-June protesters camped outside the president's home and clashed with police trying to detain him.
Similar scenes took place during an earlier arrest attempt on January 3, where angry supporters of Yun, hoping to stop the arrest, gathered outside the president's house.
South Korean police were forced to call off their first arrest attempt after the president's security team blocked Yun's compound from entering.
After that, public opinion is divided Yun's shocking martial law announcement last monthwhich he said was due to “anti-state forces” in the South Korean parliament, while mentioning North Korea.
But others see the move as an extreme reaction to the political impasse that has emerged since his party's main opposition won a landslide in April, as well as Yun's unpopularity as a result of the First Lady scandal.
Thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against the ousted president in the weeks following his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law.