Yoon Suk Yeol, who was detained for questioning over his attempt to impose martial law, would become the first sitting South Korean president to be formally arrested.

As 3,000 riot police swarmed his hillside villa on Wednesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol huddled with party loyalists, telling them that people were increasingly realising the country's legal system had been hijacked by leftist forces.

Law enforcement authorities have requested a warrant to formally arrest impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is spending his third day at a detention center after his lawyers failed in a last-minute attempt to secure his release.