South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been detained after a massive law enforcement operation at the presidential compound that ended a weeks-long stand-off between his bodyguards and the country's anti-corruption agency.

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.