Hundreds of South Koreans, bundled up against freezing temperatures and snow, rallied overnight into Sunday (January 5, 2025) near the residence of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, calling for his ouster and arrest, as authorities prepared to renew their efforts to detain him over his short-lived martial law decree.

Dozens of anti-corruption agency investigators and police attempted to execute a detainment warrant against Mr. Yoon on Friday but retreated from his residence in Seoul after a tense standoff with the presidential security service that lasted more than five hours.

The one-week warrant for his detention is valid through Monday. There were no immediate indications that anti-corruption authorities were ready to send investigators back to the residence as of Sunday afternoon. Staff from the presidential security service were seen installing barbed wire near the gate and along the hills leading up to Mr. Yoon’s residence over the weekend, possibly in preparation for another detention attempt.

A Seoul court last Tuesday issued a warrant to detain Mr. Yoon and a separate warrant to search his residence after the embattled President repeatedly defied authorities by refusing to appear for questioning and obstructing searches of his office. But enforcing them is complicated as long as Mr. Yoon remains in his official residence.

Investigators from the country’s anti-corruption agency are weighing charges of rebellion after the conservative President, apparently frustrated that his policies were blocked by a legislature dominated by the liberal opposition, declared martial law on Dec. 3 and dispatched troops to surround the National Assembly.

The Assembly overturned the declaration within hours in a unanimous vote and impeached Mr. Yoon on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion, while South Korean anti-corruption authorities and public prosecutors opened separate investigations into the events.

If the anti-corruption agency manages to detain Mr. Yoon, it will likely ask a court for permission to make a formal arrest. Otherwise, Mr. Yoon will be released after 48 hours.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military investigators, says detaining Mr. Yoon would be “virtually impossible” as long as he is protected by the presidential security service. The agency has urged the country’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, to instruct the service to comply with their execution of the detainment warrant, but Mr. Choi has yet to publicly comment on the issue.

The chiefs and deputy chiefs of the presidential security service defied summonses on Saturday from police, who planned to question them over the suspected obstruction of official duty following Friday’s events.

Mr. Yoon’s legal team said it will file complaints against the anti-corruption agency’s chief prosecutor, Oh Dong-woon, and approximately 150 investigators and police officers involved in Friday’s detention attempt, which they claim was unlawful. The team said it will also file complaints with public prosecutors against the country’s acting Defence Minister and police chief for ignoring the presidential security service’s request to provide additional forces to block the detention attempt.

Mr. Yoon’s lawyers had submitted an objection to the warrants against the president on Thursday, but the Seoul Western District Court dismissed the challenge on Sunday.

Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, called for the anti-corruption agency to move quickly to detain Mr. Yoon, saying it was deeply disappointing to see the agency “hesitating and letting time slip away.”

Hundreds of anti-Yoon protesters rallied for hours near the gates of the presidential residence from Saturday evening to Sunday, voicing frustration over the failed detention attempt and demanding stronger efforts to bring Mr. Yoon into custody. Separated by police barricades and buses, pro-Yoon protesters were gathering in nearby streets, denouncing his impeachment and vowing to block any efforts to detain him.

“With barely a day left before the execution deadline for Yoon Seok Yeol’s detainment warrant, the presidential security service continues to hide a criminal and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials cannot be more relaxed,” Kim Eun-jeong, an activist, said on a stage during the anti-Yoon rally.

“Angry citizens have already spent two freezing nights demanding his immediate detainment. Are their voices not being heard?”

Mr. Yoon’s lawyers have challenged the detention and search warrants against the President, saying they cannot be enforced at his residence due to a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge — which would be Mr. Yoon. They also argue the anti-corruption office lacks the legal authority to investigate rebellion charges and that police officers don’t have the legal authority to assist in detaining Mr. Yoon.

While the presidential security act mandates protection for Mr. Yoon, it does not authorize the presidential security service to block court-ordered detainments. The service’s attempts to block the execution of the warrant may amount to an obstruction of official duty, according to Park Sung-bae, an attorney specializing in criminal law. While the President mostly has immunity from prosecution while in office, the protection does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason.

The agency said its outnumbered investigators had several scuffles with presidential security forces that threatened their safety and expressed “serious regret” that Mr. Yoon was not complying with the legal process.

After getting around a military unit guarding the residence’s grounds, the agency’s investigators and police were able to approach within 200 metres (yards) of Mr. Yoon’s residential building but were stopped by a barricade comprising around 10 vehicles and approximately 200 members of the presidential security forces and troops. The agency said it wasn’t able to visually confirm whether Mr. Yoon was inside the residence.

The Defence Ministry says the troops at Mr. Yoon’s official residence are under the control of the presidential security service. Kim Seon-ho, the acting Defence Minister, conveyed his concern to the presidential security service, saying that deploying military personnel to block the execution of the detention warrant would be “inappropriate” and requesting that the troops aren’t placed in a position where they might confront police, according to the ministry.

Mr. Yoon’s Defence Minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the period of martial law.

Mr. Yoon’s presidential powers have been suspended since the National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14. Mr. Yoon’s fate now lies with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to uphold the impeachment and formally remove Mr. Yoon from office or reinstate him.

Seoul:

Thousands of South Korean protesters braved a snowstorm Sunday over suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol who was still resisting arrest over a failed martial law bid less than 48 hours before the warrant expires.

Yoon plunged the country into political chaos last month with the bungled martial law declaration and has since holed up in the presidential residence, surrounded by hundreds of loyal security officers resisting arrest efforts.

On Saturday, thousands descended on his residence and major roads in Seoul a day after a failed arrest attempt — with one camp demanding Yoon’s arrest while the other calling for his impeachment to be declared invalid. 

Pro-Yoon supporters massed again in front of his home Sunday despite bitter snow conditions hammering the capital overnight that left it under a white blanket, while an anti-Yoon rally was slated for 2 pm local time (0500 GMT).

“Snow is nothing for me. They can bring all the snow and we’ll still be here,” said anti-Yoon protester Lee Jin-ah, 28, who had previously worked at a coffee shop.

“I quit my job to come to protect our country and democracy,” she said, adding that she had camped outside the residence overnight.  

Park Young-chul, in his 70s, said the snowstorm wouldn’t deter him from showing up to back Yoon before the warrant expires at midnight on Monday.

“I went through war and minus 20 degrees in the snow to fight the commies. This snow is nothing. Our war is happening again,” he told AFP.

The rallies in the cold come as Yoon this week said he was watching protests in support of his rule on a YouTube livestream, pledging to “fight” those trying to question his short-lived power grab.

Yoon faces criminal charges of insurrection, one of a few crimes not subject to presidential immunity, meaning he could be sentenced to prison or, at worst, the death penalty.

If the warrant is executed, Yoon would become the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested.

Blinken Wades In

The country’s opposition Democratic Party called for the dissolution of the security service protecting Yoon after investigators met a wall of hundreds of security forces preventing access to him.

“The Presidential Security Service has violated the constitution, effectively positioning itself as a force of insurrection,” floor leader Park Chan-dae told parliament Saturday.

“There is no longer any justification for its existence.”

The service’s top officials refused a police request Saturday for questioning, citing the “serious nature” of protecting Yoon.

The Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), probing the martial law declaration, and the opposition urged acting president Choi Sang-mok — in office for just a week and a party colleague of Yoon — to order the presidential security service to cooperate.

Late Sunday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Seoul, likely to wade into the crisis of a key security ally in talks Monday with his counterpart Cho Tae-yul.

He is expected to delicately encourage continuity with the policies, but not tactics, of the impeached president. 

Yoon’s lawyers decried Friday’s arrest attempt as “unlawful and invalid”, and vowed to take legal action.

In scenes of high drama, Yoon’s guards and military troops shielded him from investigators who eventually called off Friday’s arrest attempt citing safety concerns.

The Constitutional Court slated January 14 for the start of Yoon’s impeachment trial, which if he does not attend would continue in his absence. 

South Korea’s Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers.

Until then, while suspended, Yoon holds the title of president.

Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared for their impeachment trials.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Yoon Suk Yeol. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was resisting arrest for a third day on Thursday (January 2, 2025) after vowing to “fight” authorities seeking to question him over his failed martial law bid.

The embattled leader issued the bungled declaration on December 3 that led to his impeachment and has left him facing arrest, imprisonment or, at worst, the death penalty.

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a defiant statement to his conservative supporters gathered outside his residence in the capital of Seoul, vowing to “fight to the end” against what he called “anti-state forces,” as law enforcement prepared to detain him over last month’s martial law decree.

Supporters and opponents of Yoon have since camped outside his Presidential residence, while members of his security team have blocked attempted police raids in a dramatic stand-off.

Yoon has gone to ground but remained unrepentant as the crisis has rolled on, issuing a defiant message to his base days before a warrant expires on January 6.

“The Republic of Korea is currently in danger due to internal and external forces threatening its sovereignty, and the activities of anti-state elements,” he said in a statement passed around to protesters, his lawyer Yoon Kab-keun confirmed to AFP.

“I vow to fight alongside you to the very end to protect this nation,” he added, saying he was watching the hundreds-strong protest Wednesday evening on a YouTube live stream.

The impeached leader remains in the capital Seoul, the lawyer confirmed to AFP.

Opposition lawmakers were quick to condemn Yoon’s message as inflammatory, with Democratic Party spokesperson Jo Seoung-lae calling him “delusional” and accusing him of trying to incite clashes.

Yoon’s legal team has filed for an injunction to block the warrant and claimed Wednesday that the arrest order was “an unlawful and invalid act”.

But Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) chief Oh Dong-woon warned that anyone trying to block authorities from arresting Yoon could themselves face prosecution.

South Korean officials have previously failed to execute arrest warrants for lawmakers — in 2000 and 2004 — due to party members and supporters blocking police for the seven-day period the warrant was valid.

Refused questioning

Discussions between prosecutors and police are taking place in the background of a political crisis that initially saw the country briefly lurch back to the dark days of military rule.

But the martial law order — which he said was aimed at eliminating “anti-State elements” — only lasted a few hours.

Heavily armed troops stormed the building, scaling fences, smashing windows and landing by helicopter, but Yoon was quickly forced into a U-turn after a night of protests.

He was then stripped of his presidential duties by parliament and now faces criminal charges of insurrection that could result in life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

Yoon has since refused summonses for questioning three times and doubled down on claims the opposition was in league with South Korea’s communist enemies.

In the wake of his refusal, supporters have raced to Seoul to support him.

As night fell on Wednesday (January 1, 2025), pro-Yoon protesters spewed vitriol at police while waving glowsticks and anti-impeachment placards.

A constitutional court will rule whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment.

The turmoil deepened late last week when Yoon’s replacement, Han Duck-soo, was also impeached by parliament for failing to sign bills for investigations into his predecessor.

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has been installed as acting President and pledged to do all he can to end the political upheaval.

He has since decided to appoint two new judges to the constitutional court hearing Yoon’s impeachment — meeting a key demand of the Opposition but branded an overstepping of his powers by Yoon’s staff.

Choi took office on Friday and found himself immediately thrust into handling a disaster, after a Jeju Air plane crashed on Sunday, claiming 179 lives.