Yoon faces becoming the first sitting president to be detained in country’s history.
South Korean authorities have arrived at the residence of President Yoon Suk-yeol to arrest the impeached leader over his short-lived declaration of martial law.
Dozens of police and anticorruption investigators entered the gate of Yoon’s compound in Seoul early on Friday morning to execute a warrant for his arrest over his brief imposition of martial law on December 3, which plunged the East Asian nation into its deepest political crisis in decades.
“The execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol has begun,” the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials said in a statement.
It is unclear if Yoon, who is being investigated on suspicion of insurrection and abuse of power, will cooperate with authorities seeking to detain him.
If arrested, he would be the first sitting president to be detained in South Korean history.
Speculation about when and how authorities would take Yoon into custody has swirled since a Seoul court earlier this week granted prosecutors’ request for an arrest warrant.
Yoon Kap-keun, a lawyer for Yoon, on Thursday reiterated his position that the warrant was illegal and invalid, adding that “legal actions” would be taken in response to its execution.
Yoon’s security detail has previously blocked investigators from executing several search warrants directed at the president.
In a defiant New Year’s message to supporters who have gathered outside his residence, Yoon pledged to “fight until the end to protect this country together with you.”
Braving freezing temperatures, thousands of Yoon’s supporters have rallied outside compounded in recent days to demand an end to the investigation and the reversal of his impeachment.
“President Yoon Suk Yeol will be protected by the people!” and “Illegal warrant is invalid” protestors chanted on Thursday.
Authorities have deployed about 2,700 police and 135 police buses in the area to prevent violence between pro- and anti-Yoon protestors, state-funded Yonhap Agency News reported.
Yoon, who served as the nation’s top prosecutor before entering politics, has been suspended from his duties since December 14, when the National Assembly voted 204-85 for his impeachment.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has served as acting president since December 27, when the legislature voted to impeach Yoon’s initial successor, Han Duck-soo, over his refusal to immediately appoint three justices to the country’s Constitutional Court.
The court is deliberating whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment or restore his presidential authority, a process that could take up to six months.
At least six justices on the nine-member court must approve Yoon’s impeachment to remove him from office.
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