SEOUL – South Korean authorities investigating impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attempted to enter his residence before dawn on Jan 15 in a new bid to arrest him over insurrection accusations related to his Dec 3 martial law declaration.
Video footage showed investigating officers trying to push through a crowd of Mr Yoon’s supporters gathered outside his hillside villa, where he has been holed up for weeks behind barbed wire and a small army of personal security.
Buses blocked the road leading up to the residence where anti-graft officers were earlier seen talking to Mr Yoon’s lawyers, who argue that the attempts to arrest him are illegal and designed to publicly humiliate the embattled president.
Investigators were foiled on Jan 3 from serving the first ever arrest warrant issued against an incumbent South Korean president, giving up after a six-hour stand-off with his presidential security agents and military guards.
Braving the freezing early morning on Jan 15, hundreds of people protesting Mr Yoon’s arrest gathered nearby singing and waving flags, some bearing “Stop the Steal” slogans referring to Mr Yoon’s unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
That was one of the reasons Mr Yoon justified his short-lived declaration of martial law that led to his impeachment by lawmakers on Dec 14 and plunged one of Asia’s most vibrant economies into a period of unprecedented political turmoil.
The Constitutional Court began hearings this week on whether to uphold the impeachment and permanently remove him from office.
Those hearings are separate from the criminal investigation being pursued by the anti-graft officers who were seeking his arrest on Jan 15.
Mr Yoon’s lawyers have said their arrest warrant is illegal because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction and the team set up to investigate him had no legal mandate to do so.
The team executing the arrest warrant – made up of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and the police – secured a re-issued warrant on Jan 7 and has held multiple meetings with Mr Yoon’s personal security in a bid to ensure a successful execution.
Mr Oh Dong-woon, head of the CIO leading the investigation, has said authorities would do whatever it takes to bring Mr Yoon into custody. REUTERS
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