Protests erupt in South Korea as police fail to arrest impeached president Yoon Suk Yeo
Protests erupted yesterday in South Korea as police failed to arrest president Yoon Suk Yeol.
Investigators were blocked from entering Mr Yoon’s official residence in Seoul and were withdrawn after a near six-hour standoff.
They had attempted to execute a warrant for Mr Yoon’s arrest – a move branded as ‘reckless’ by one of the president’s lawyers.
Hordes of supporters and opponents of the president gathered nearby either vowing to protect the leader or demanding his arrest.
Mr Yoon, 64, is under criminal investigation for insurrection following a short-lived martial law decree on December 3.
Parliament overturned the declaration and impeached Mr Yoon, inset, on December 14, accusing him of rebellion.
Around 20 investigators and police officers were seen entering the gate of Yoon’s home to execute a warrant for his detention yesterday.
The dramatic scene appeared to have developed into a standoff when two of Mr Yoon’s lawyers, Yoon Kap-keun and Kim Hong-il, were seen entering the gate of the presidential residence.
Protesters march against impeached South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol after prosecutors failed to arrest him at his home
Mr Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection after he declared martial law on December 3
Seok Dong-hyeon, one of several lawyers on Yoon’s legal team, confirmed the investigators arrived at the building and said the agency’s efforts to detain Yoon were ‘reckless’ and showed an ‘outrageous discard for law’.
South Korea’s Defence Ministry confirmed the investigators and police officers got past a military unit guarding the residence’s grounds before arriving at the building.
The presidential security service, which controls the residence itself, refused to comment on whether its members were confronting investigators and whether they planned to block the detention attempt.
Yoon’s lawyers claim the warrant cannot be enforced at his property due to a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge.
Thousands of police officers later gathered at the property and formed a perimeter around a growing number of pro-Yoon protesters, who waved South Korean flags and shouted slogans in his support.
Three protesters hold placards on a march in Seoul. South Korea’s constitutional court is now deciding whether to formally remove Mr Yoon from office
The last time Yoon is known to have left the residence was on December 12, when he went to the nearby presidential office to make a televised statement to the nation, making a defiant statement that he will fight efforts to oust him.
His defence minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the period of martial law.
South Korea’s constitutional court is now deciding whether to formally remove Mr Yoon from office.
Facing growing pressure, the new acting president, Choi Sang-mok, appointed two new justices on Tuesday, which could increase the chances of the court upholding Yoon’s impeachment.
