South Korean investigators again try to detain President Yoon at his official residence
Earlier on Wednesday, criminal investigators holding a court-issued arrest warrant began a new operation to detain impeached President Yun Seok-yeol for questioning over the martial law he briefly imposed last month.
Before dawn, police cars began gathering outside the hilltop presidential palace, where Mr Yoon has been holed up since being impeached and suspended from office by the National Assembly on December 14. people.
At dawn on Wednesday, investigators and police gathered at the front entrance of Mr. Yin’s home. They carried ladders over bus barricades blocking the road to the entrance of Mr. Yoon’s residence, where they held discussions with the president’s security and lawyers.
At about 8:30 a.m., lawyer Seok Dong-hyeon, who serves as Mr. Yoon’s spokesman, posted on Facebook that the president had not been arrested and that his legal team was in talks with investigators about the possibility that Mr. Yoon would voluntarily submit his own case. ask.
Investigators were bracing for a repeat of the standoff on Jan. 3, when they first went to Mr. Yin’s home to serve a detention order. They were then outnumbered by presidential security agents and had to make an embarrassing retreat after a standoff that lasted five and a half hours.
Investigators have since regrouped and said more officers will be deployed the next time they go to his home. Police officials said they planned to deploy 1,000 officers, including units dedicated to fighting drugs and organized crime gangs, and vowed to arrest anyone who stood in their way.
On Wednesday morning, Mr. Yin’s lawyers, party lawmakers and members of the presidential security service stood outside the compound’s gates, as Mr. Yin and his supporters appeared to be preparing to resist a new round of detentions. Live video from the street leading to his residence in the morning showed a tense confrontation, including some shoving and physical altercations, in sub-freezing temperatures.
Since the first attempt to detain Mr. Yin, his security guards have strengthened the compound’s defenses by deploying more buses and barbed wire to block the gates and walls. Mr Yoon vowed to “fight to the end” to return to office and said he would not give in to what he considered an illegal court warrant.
South Korea’s acting president and deputy prime minister Choe Sang-mok warned government agencies involved in the confrontation against violence.
“Everyone and the international community is paying attention to this matter,” he said in a statement. “We will not tolerate physical violence for any purpose as it will irreparably damage the trust of the people and our international reputation.”
The authorities took Mr Yoon into custody and forced him to answer charges of rebellion, the first attempt in South Korea’s history to detain a sitting president. The unfolding events have gripped the country, with news and social media channels carrying live coverage. There are fears of violence if neither side gives in.
A day earlier, the Constitutional Court began hearings on whether to remove Mr. Yin, who did not attend the hearing. His lawyer said he feared investigators would detain him if he left the presidential palace.
In a last-ditch attempt to execute the arrest warrant, the Presidential Security Service, the government agency charged with protecting the president and his family, outnumbered the Office of Corruption Investigations (CIO), which sought to detain the president with his help. It deployed 200 guards and soldiers to hold off 100 CIO agents and police.
It is unclear how much manpower the presidential security team can mobilize to thwart new attempts to detain Mr. Yoon.
A military force guards the perimeter of the presidential palace. But after the first confrontation, the Defense Department told the presidential security services that soldiers could no longer be used to prevent the execution of the warrants because it was not one of their responsibilities.
Kim Woo Young Contributed reporting.
