SEOUL: South Korean investigators called off their attempt to arrest impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at his residence on Friday (Jan 3) over his failed martial law bid, citing safety concerns after a tense six-hour standoff with his security team.
Yoon, who has already been suspended from duty by lawmakers, would become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested if the warrant is carried out.
The president, who issued a bungled declaration on Dec 3 that shook the vibrant East Asian democracy and briefly lurched it back to the dark days of military rule, faces imprisonment or, at worst, the death penalty.
“Regarding the execution of the arrest warrant today, it was determined that the execution was effectively impossible due to the ongoing standoff,” the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is probing Yoon over his martial law decree, said in a statement.
“Concern for the safety of personnel on-site led to the decision to halt” the arrest attempt, the statement said of the confrontation with Yoon’s presidential security service and its military unit.
Officials from the CIO, which is leading a joint team of investigators that includes the police and prosecutors, had arrived at the gates of Yoon’s compound shortly after 7am (6am, Singapore time) and entered on foot.
CIO investigators including senior prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan were let through heavy security barricades to enter the residence, evading a crowd of protesters outside, to attempt to execute their warrant to detain Yoon.
Once inside the compound, the CIO and police were outnumbered by cordons of Presidential Security Service (PSS) personnel, as well as military troops seconded to presidential security, a CIO official told reporters.
Around 20 investigators and 80 police officers were heavily outnumbered by around 200 soldiers and security personnel linking arms to block their way, a CIO official told a briefing.
“I understand there were minor and major physical altercations,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding that buses and cars were also parked to block their way.
Negotiations between the two sides ultimately faltered and the investigators decided to leave for their team’s safety, although another execution of the warrant could take place after a review, the official said.
Soldiers under the PSS at one point engaged in a “confrontation with the CIO at the presidential residence”, an official with Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP.
South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said the troops were under the control of the PSS.
Before the execution of the court-approved warrant was called off, Yoon’s security detail told AFP they had been “in negotiation” with the CIO investigators who sought to access the president.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/seoul-south-korea-arrest-president-yoon-suk-yeol-4835856
