South Korean investigators have suspended efforts to enforce an arrest warrant for embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, hours into a standoff in which authorities tried to detain the leader following his short-lived martial law declaration.
Some 80 police and investigators had entered the presidential compound in Seoul in the early morning to take Yoon into custody for questioning, the CIO said – deepening what had already been a weeks-long showdown with the defiant and embattled leader.
Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) approached within a couple hundred meters of Yoon’s residence, but were blocked by a “human wall” of around 200 soldiers and members of the presidential security detail, CIO said Friday afternoon. There were also several altercations of “varying intensity,” the office said.
Investigators called off the arrest warrant enforcement Friday afternoon citing the safety of the people on the ground, according to a statement. The warrant, which is valid until January 6, remains in effect and could be extended.
The atmosphere in the streets around the compound was heavily charged, with police flanking streets near Yoon’s residence and hundreds gathering to support the leader, who plunged the nation into political chaos with his swiftly overturned declaration one month ago.
Yoon, who was stripped of presidential powers after lawmakers voted to impeach him last month, is wanted for questioning in multiple investigations, including accusations of leading an insurrection – a crime punishable by life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
A court earlier this week approved the warrant to detain him – the first time such action has been taken against a sitting president. In response, the presidential security team said that security measures “will be taken in accordance with due process.”
Yoon, himself a former prosecutor, has refused to answer three summonses by investigators in recent weeks asking for his cooperation, according to the CIO.
After suspending efforts to detain Yoon, the CIO expressed “deep regret” at “the suspect’s attitude of not following the process by law.”
The CIO said “it is virtually impossible to execute a warrant” at Yoon’s residence while security there remains in place. It said it will “strongly request” that the acting President Choi Sang-mok orders his security comply with the arrest warrant.
Yoon’s declaration of marital law a month ago was met with widespread public backlash, with members of his own party turning on him to support the impeachment vote following his refusal to resign.
Supporters back a defiant Yoon
Crowds of diehard supporters were gathered near the presidential residence despite frigid temperatures, with some camping there overnight to express their opposition to the warrant.
Many of those backing the leader – widely seen as a conservative firebrand and staunch US ally tough on China and North Korea – held signs with the phrase “Stop the steal” printed in English, while others waved American flags.
Other supporters held placards describing his arrest as treason, while some shouted that they should push through the barricade set up by police and chanted: “Arrest the CIO.”
Yoon’s backers have insisted that the actions being taken against him are contrary to South Korean law. His lawyer reiterated in a statement Friday the arrest warrant was “an illegal, invalid warrant” and vowed to take legal action against its execution.
Yoon’s defense team on Tuesday filed an injunction with the Constitutional Court to suspend the warrant, as well as a separate objection filed to a lower court over the order.
If taken into custody, Yoon can be held for up to 48 hours for questioning with the existing warrant issued by the court in relation to charges of abuse of authority and leading an insurrection. The CIO would need to apply for a secondary warrant within that period to detain him further.
The suspended president has remained defiant in the face of investigations and an impeachment trial underway by one of the country’s highest courts.
He vowed in a letter to supporters gathered outside his residence Thursday that he would “fight to the end” for the country. It was his first public comment in weeks after he largely stayed away from public view during the fallout from his widely condemned decree.
The main opposition party on Friday, meanwhile, released a statement urging the presidential security team to cooperate and “firmly refuse” any unlawful orders.
The Democratic Party called on Yoon to “walk out of your residence, where you are cowardly hiding, and be obedient with the execution of your arrest warrant.”
“All members of the Republic of Korea need to abide by law and order,” the statement said.
Investigations and trials
Yoon declared martial law in a surprise late-night address on December 3, claiming opposition lawmakers had “paralyzed state affairs” and that the move was necessary to “safeguard a liberal South Korea” from the threats posed by “anti-state elements.”
Members of the National Assembly, including some from Yoon’s own party, voted to reverse the declaration some six hours later. Yoon’s order faced fierce backlash from the public and lawmakers across the political spectrum, reviving painful memories of the country’s authoritarian past.
In the weeks since, the country has been in political disarray with parliament also voting to impeach its prime minister and acting president Han Duck-soo, just weeks after it voted to impeach Yoon. The finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, is now acting president.
The move to detain Yoon follows the emergence of new allegations about what exactly happened during those hours before the motion was rescinded.
As CNN has reported, Yoon ordered troops to South Korea’s parliament as lawmakers scrambled to block the martial law order with a parliamentary vote. As soldiers attempted to enter the main hall of the National Assembly, lawmakers erected barricades using chairs and other furniture to stop them from entering.
In a 10-page summary from the former defense minister’s prosecution indictment report on Friday, Yoon had allegedly instructed the military to use firearms to break the doors, if necessary, to remove lawmakers gathering inside the main chamber.
Former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun was arrested last month and was indicted for abuse of power and serving as a key figure in the insurrection operation, the statement said.
Yoon’s impeachment proceedings are being handled in a separate Constitutional Court trial, which will begin on January 14. That trial, which could take up to six months, will decide whether he will be formally removed from the presidency or reinstated to office.
The Constitutional Court has vowed to take the case as a “top priority” along with other impeachment cases the opposition has pushed for against members of Yoon’s administration, including the justice minister, prosecutors and other senior officials.
This is a developing story. CNN’s Mitchell McCluskey and Alex Stambaugh contributed reporting.
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