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East Asia

South Korean investigators abandon arrest of impeached President Yoon after tense stand-off

About 100 investigators and police officers were heavily outnumbered by around 200 soldiers and security personnel blocking the way into the presidential compound.

South Korean investigators abandon arrest of impeached President Yoon after tense stand-off

Anti-Yoon protesters clash with police officers as they march towards impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's official residence, after investigators were unable to execute an arrest warrant on Friday for Yoon according to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, in Seoul, South Korea, on Jan 3, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)

SEOUL: South Korean investigators called off their attempt to arrest impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at his residence on Friday (Jan 3) over his failed martial law bid, citing safety concerns after a tense six-hour standoff with his security team.

Yoon, who has already been suspended from duty by lawmakers, would become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested if the warrant is carried out.

The president, who issued a bungled declaration on Dec 3 that shook the vibrant East Asian democracy and briefly lurched it back to the dark days of military rule, faces imprisonment or, at worst, the death penalty.

"Regarding the execution of the arrest warrant today, it was determined that the execution was effectively impossible due to the ongoing standoff," the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is probing Yoon over his martial law decree, said in a statement.

"Concern for the safety of personnel on-site led to the decision to halt" the arrest attempt, the statement said of the confrontation with Yoon's presidential security service and its military unit.

Officials from the CIO, which is leading a joint team of investigators that includes the police and prosecutors, had arrived at the gates of Yoon's compound shortly after 7am (6am, Singapore time) and entered on foot.

CIO investigators including senior prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan were let through heavy security barricades to enter the residence, evading a crowd of protesters outside, to attempt to execute their warrant to detain Yoon.

Once inside the compound, the CIO and police were outnumbered by cordons of Presidential Security Service (PSS) personnel, as well as military troops seconded to presidential security, a CIO official told reporters.

Around 20 investigators and 80 police officers were heavily outnumbered by around 200 soldiers and security personnel linking arms to block their way, a CIO official told a briefing.

"I understand there were minor and major physical altercations," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding that buses and cars were also parked to block their way.

Negotiations between the two sides ultimately faltered and the investigators decided to leave for their team's safety, although another execution of the warrant could take place after a review, the official said.

Soldiers under the PSS at one point engaged in a "confrontation with the CIO at the presidential residence", an official with Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP.

South Korea's Ministry of National Defense said the troops were under the control of the PSS.

Before the execution of the court-approved warrant was called off, Yoon's security detail told AFP they had been "in negotiation" with the CIO investigators who sought to access the president.

Security personnel (bottom) of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol block the road with vehicles inside the compound of the presidential residence in Seoul on Jan 3, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Yonhap)

The CIO called off the effort to arrest Yoon around 1.30pm due to concerns over the safety of its personnel due to obstruction, and said it "deeply regretted" Yoon's attitude of non-compliance.

The deadline for the warrant is Monday, leaving it in limbo with just a few days remaining and Yoon defiant, vowing earlier this week to "fight" authorities seeking to question him.

Yoon's security service - which still protects Yoon as the country's sitting head of state - has previously blocked attempted police raids of the presidential office.

Kim Seon-taek, a Korea University law professor, said targeting the PSS leadership may allow the investigators to sap the service's ability to put up resistance so they can try again to execute the warrant, which is "a rough way" to proceed.

A better way, he said, would be for acting President Choi Sang-mok to exercise his power to order the PSS to cooperate. Later on Friday, the CIO said it would ask Choi to give that order.

Yoon Kap-keun, lawyer for South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, arrives at Yoon Suk Yeol's residence in Seoul on Jan 3, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Jung Yeon-je)

The police, who are part of the joint investigation team, have also designated the PSS chief and the deputy as suspects in a criminal case for obstruction of official duty and issued summons for them to appear for questioning on Saturday, Yonhap news reported.

Investigators sought an arrest warrant after Yoon ignored summons to appear for questioning thrice

His legal team - who raced to the residence and whom AFP saw were allowed inside - said the police had no right to execute the warrant at a "first-class military secret protection facility".

"We express deep regret regarding today's unlawful and invalid execution of arrest and search warrants," the president's lawyer Yoon Kab-keun said in a statement.

"I issue a stern warning and strongly urge the CIO to comply with the law."

On Friday, prosecutors also indicted two top military officials, including army chief Park An-su who was named martial law commander during last month's fiasco, on charges of insurrection, Yonhap reported. Both were already in detention.

Dozens of police buses and thousands of uniformed police had lined the street outside the compound in central Seoul to prevent clashes after rival camps faced off there on Thursday, Yonhap news agency reported.

Earlier, in the pre-dawn hours, protesters had gathered near the residence, with the numbers swelling into the hundreds, amid media reports that investigating authorities would soon try to execute the arrest warrant that was approved on Tuesday.

"We have to block them with our lives," one was heard saying to others. About a dozen protesters tried to block a group of police officers at the entrance to a pedestrian overpass.

Vehicles believed to be of investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials arrive at the impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's official residence in Seoul, South Korea on Jan 3, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Yonhap)
Members of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials gather in front of the impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's official residence in Seoul, South Korea on Jan 3, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)

Some chanted "President Yoon Suk Yeol will be protected by the people", and called for the head of the CIO to be arrested.

Pyeong In-su, 74, said that the police had to be stopped by "patriotic citizens", a term Yoon used to describe those standing guard near his residence.

Holding a flag of the United States and South Korea with the words "Let’s go together" in English and Korean, Pyeong said he hoped incoming US President Donald Trump would come to Yoon's aid.

"I hope after Trump's inauguration he can use his influence to help our country get back on the right track," he said.

Jeremy Chan, a senior analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said officials have resorted to arrest because of Yoon’s refusal to comply with investigators. He has thrice defied summons to appear for questioning

“The CIO has been tasked with investigating these valid insurrection charges against the president,” he told CNA’s Asia First.

“So, the fact that Yoon is taking this kind of absolutist, scorched earth approach is forcing the CIO to take more aggressive measures. Yoon is as guilty as any party in this whole drama in terms of escalating tensions and potential for violence.”

The current arrest warrant is viable until Jan 6 and gives investigators only 48 hours to hold Yoon after he is arrested. Investigators must then decide whether to request a detention warrant or release him.

Once arrested, Yoon is expected to be held at the Seoul Detention Center, Yonhap News Agency said, citing the CIO.

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold up posters along with Korean and US flags near his residence in Seoul on Jan 3, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Phillip Fong)
Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol wave Korean and US flags near his residence in Seoul on Jan 3, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Phillip Fong)

Insurrection is one of the few criminal charges from which a South Korean president does not have immunity.

Yoon's lawyers have said the arrest warrant was illegal and invalid because the CIO did not have the authority under South Korean law to request a warrant.

Yoon has been isolated since he was impeached and suspended from power on Dec 14.

Yoon's legal team had already filed for an injunction to a constitutional court to block the warrant, calling the arrest order "an unlawful and invalid act", and also submitted an objection to the Seoul court that ordered it.

Separate from the criminal investigation, his impeachment case is currently before the Constitutional Court to decide whether to reinstate or permanently remove him. A second hearing in that case is scheduled for later on Friday. 

Yongwook Ryu, an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, explained that there are grey areas under which Yoon could still be protected under presidential immunity.

He said officials should let the impeachment process run its course, rather than risk attempts to enforce Yoon’s arrest.

“I don’t quite understand why they want to push this through so urgently when nothing much hinges on this particular arrest warrant,” he told CNA938.

“My expectation is that the Constitutional Court will uphold the impeachment. (When) he is no longer president, then the CIO, prosecutor's office, the police, all of them can investigate Yoon.”

Source: Agencies//CNA/fs/lh/dy
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