South Korean investigators are trying to detain the impeached president for the second time
The authorities suspended the investigation South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived at his residence on Wednesday in a second attempt to detain him over his ill-fated declaration of martial law last month.
Police have sent about 3,200 officers to the president’s sprawling hilltop compound in Seoul, according to Reuters, where he has spent weeks in hiding surrounded by personal security.
The video shows officers approaching Yoon’s residence, according to Reuterswhere hundreds of his supporters had already gathered protesting on his behalf. Earlier, they were reportedly seen pushing their way through a group of them.
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A previous attempt to detain Yoon was aborted on Jan. 3 after a six-hour standoff between military guards and the president’s security personnel.
“As I have repeatedly emphasized the need to prevent physical conflict between state agencies,” Acting President Choi Sang-mok said in a statement on Wednesday. “I will be held strictly accountable if unfortunate events occur.”
Authorities are trying to detain suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for a second time after declaring a state of emergency last month. (Office of the President of South Korea via AP, file)
Enforcing a warrant for Yoon’s arrest has proven difficult for investigators, as the president’s legal adviser insists it is impossible to do so under a law that prohibits warrantless searches of locations potentially linked to military secrets.
Yoon’s lawyers also denounced such an order as an illegal way to publicly humiliate him.
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The arrest warrant is the first ever issued against a sitting South Korean president. Yoon’s order stems from his declaration of a state of emergency on December 3 out of apparent frustration with the opposition-dominated parliament’s refusal to adopt key points of his policy agenda.
The move was condemned in South Korea and abroad, where analysts expressed shock at the sudden and unprecedented move in what is typically one of the most stable Asian democracies.
Police officers were seen closing in on suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s residence in Seoul, South Korea, along with investigators from the Bureau of Corruption Investigation for Senior Officials. (REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)
The parliament unanimously rejected Yoon’s statement and then suspended him on December 14 in a 204-85 vote that included members of his own party.
Yoon will be formally impeached if the Constitutional Court upholds the motion with a three-quarters majority.
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The next court hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
