Written by Hyunsoo Yim and Jo Min Park
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean authorities investigating ousted President Yoon Suk-yul tried to enter his residence on Wednesday morning in a new attempt to arrest him over rebellion charges related to the Dec. 3 declaration of martial law.
Video footage showed hundreds of police officers, some carrying ladders and wire cutters, walking down the road leading to his hillside villa, where Yoon has been holed up for weeks guarded by a small army of personal security.
Yonhap News Agency reported that investigators arrested acting head of the Presidential Security Service, Leon, who foiled a previous attempt to arrest him on January 3.
While local news stations reported that Yoon's arrest could be coming soon, some minor scuffles broke out between pro-Yeon protesters and police near the house, according to a Reuters witness at the scene.
Police said they deployed 3,200 officers to Yoon's residence to carry out the arrest on Wednesday, where hundreds of pro-Leon demonstrators and members of the People Power party also gathered before dawn in sub-zero temperatures.
“Since I have repeatedly stressed the need to prevent physical conflict between state agencies… I will hold those responsible firmly if unfortunate events occur,” acting President Choi Sang-mok said in a statement on Wednesday.
Yoon's declaration of martial law caught South Koreans by surprise and plunged one of Asia's most vibrant democracies into an unprecedented period of political turmoil.
The arrest warrant is the first ever issued against a sitting South Korean president. Yoon's lawyers said the attempts to arrest him were illegal and aimed at publicly humiliating him.
Separately, the Constitutional Court is deliberating on whether to uphold lawmakers' vote to impeach Yoon and permanently remove him from office.
“There's nowhere to run”
The latest arrest attempt has gripped the country as hundreds of thousands have been glued to South Korean broadcasters' live broadcasts on YouTube since before dawn.
Officers from the anti-corruption unit leading the investigation arrived near the house at 4 a.m. (1900 GMT).
By then, there were already hundreds of pro-Yeon protesters, some wrapped in metal blankets and others waving flags with “Stop the Steal” slogans in reference to Yoon’s baseless claims of election fraud — one of the reasons he gave to justify his short-lived military campaign. long. Declaration of the law.
“If the president is arrested, my heart will break,” said Jang Kyung-sun, 64, a supporter of Yoon who traveled from eastern Gangwon Province to Seoul to protest his arrest.
“Martial law has truly been declared for the nation and the people.”
The opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament after its landslide victory in last year's legislative elections, issued a statement calling on Yoon to comply with the arrest.
“There is no longer anywhere to run,” the party said.
Cho Soon Ah, 51, was among another group of people who gathered near his residence to support authorities' attempts to arrest Yoon.
“I do not think it is right for the leader of the uprising to adhere to this method despite the issuance of an arrest warrant without facing any punishment. The law should be equal for everyone and this is not right even if that were the case.” President,” he said.
Yoon's lawyers said the arrest warrant was illegal because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction, and the team formed to investigate him did not have a legal mandate to do so.
The team executing the arrest warrant – made up of the Chief Corruption Investigation Bureau (CIO) and the police – obtained a reissue warrant on January 7 and held multiple meetings with Leon's personal security in an attempt to ensure a successful execution.
Oh Dong-won, head of the Information Technology Bureau leading the investigation, said authorities would do whatever it takes to arrest Yoon.
