A man watches South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol speak during a news broadcast on a television at a train station in Seoul on December 3, 2024, after he declared emergency martial law, saying the step was necessary to protect the country from "communist forces" amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill. Anthony Wallace, AFP

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17358596030621733449349977173328918951320241203171216_5a610937c4c13d8536e8c2af07427bcabf8fd5636602c8bffdc1649993e0aa73.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">A man watches South Korea&#x27;s President Yoon Suk Yeol speak during a news broadcast on a television at a train station in Seoul on December 3, 2024, after he declared emergency martial law, saying the step was necessary to protect the country from &quot;communist forces&quot; amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill. Anthony Wallace, AFP</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><p>South Korean investigators sought to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol at his residence Friday over a failed martial bid, but local media reported security forces were blocking their attempts.</p><p>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.</p><p>The president, who issued a bungled declaration on December 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.</p><p>&quot;The execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol has begun,&quot; said the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is probing Yoon&#x27;s short-lived declaration of martial law, with its officials and police seen entering the president&#x27;s residence.</p><p>CIO investigators including senior prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan were let through heavy security barricades to enter the residence to attempt to execute their warrant to detain Yoon, AFP reporters saw.</p><p>But they were &quot;blocked by a military unit inside&quot; after entering, the Yonhap news agency reported.</p><p>They later &quot;moved past&quot; that unit to &quot;confront security service&quot; members inside the residence.</p><p>It had been unclear whether the Presidential Security Service, which still protects Yoon as the country&#x27;s sitting head of state, would comply with investigators&#x27; warrants.</p><p>Members of his security team have previously blocked attempted police raids of the presidential residence, but it was not immediately clear which units had blocked investigators Friday.</p><p>Yoon&#x27;s legal team decried the attempt to execute the arrest warrant, vowing to take further legal action against the move.</p><p>&quot;The execution of a warrant that is illegal and invalid is indeed not lawful,&quot; Yoon&#x27;s lawyer Yoon Kap-keun said.</p><p>Dozens of police buses and hundreds of uniformed police lined the street outside the compound in central Seoul, AFP reporters saw.</p><p>Some 2,700 police and 135 police buses have been deployed to the area to prevent clashes, Yonhap reported, after Yoon&#x27;s supporters faced off with anti-Yoon demonstrators Thursday.</p><p>Yoon has been holed up inside the residence since a court approved the warrant to detain him earlier this week, vowing to &quot;fight&quot; authorities seeking to question him over his failed martial law bid.</p><div><iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2bmJOIxR6AA" title="S. Korea investigators arrive to attempt to arrest president: AFP | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>ALL-NIGHT PRAYERS</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>South Korean media have reported that CIO officials want to arrest Yoon and take him to their office in Gwacheon near Seoul for questioning.</p><p>After that, he can be held for up to 48 hours on the existing warrant. Investigators need to apply for another arrest warrant to keep him in custody.</p><p>After staging chaotic protests Thursday, a handful of Yoon&#x27;s die-hard supporters, which include far-right YouTube personalities and evangelical Christian preachers, had camped outside his compound all night -- some holding all-night prayer sessions.</p><p>&quot;Illegal warrant is invalid&quot; they chanted early Friday, as police and media gathered outside the residence.</p><p>&quot;Yoon Suk Yeol, Yoon Suk Yeol,&quot; they yelled, waving red glow sticks.</p><p>Pro-Yoon protester Rhee Kang-san told AFP many were &quot;rooting for the president&quot; to survive the arrest attempt.</p><p>&quot;We are sending him our wishes. Many of our colleagues stayed overnight to show their support. We will continue to do the same today, no matter what happens later,&quot; he said.</p><p>Yoon&#x27;s lawyer confirmed to AFP Thursday that the impeached leader remained inside the presidential compound.</p><p>Yoon&#x27;s legal team had already filed for an injunction to a constitutional court to block the warrant, calling the arrest order &quot;an unlawful and invalid act&quot;, and also submitted an objection to the Seoul court that ordered it.</p><p>But the head of the CIO, Oh Dong-woon, has warned that anyone trying to block authorities from arresting Yoon could themselves face prosecution.</p><p>Along with the summons, a Seoul court issued a search warrant for his official residence and other locations, a CIO official told AFP.</p><p>South Korean officials have previously failed to execute similar arrest warrants for lawmakers -- in 2000 and 2004 -- due to party members and supporters blocking police for the seven days the warrants were valid.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/28/s-korean-prosecutors-say-yoon-authorized-shooting-during-martial-law-bid-1616">S. Korean prosecutors say Yoon authorized &#x27;shooting&#x27; during martial law bid</a></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>South Korean investigators sought to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol at his residence Friday over a failed martial bid, but local media reported security forces were blocking their attempts.</p>

South Korean investigators sought to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol at his residence Friday over a failed martial bid, but local media reported security forces were blocking their attempts.

South Korea investigators in standoff to arrest President Yoon | ABS-CBN

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South Korea investigators in standoff to arrest President Yoon

South Korea investigators in standoff to arrest President Yoon

Agence France-Presse

Published Jan 03, 2025 07:16 AM PHT

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Updated Jan 03, 2025 09:35 AM PHT

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