After five hours of deadlock, the arrest warrant against President Yoon Suk Yeol was not executed, intensifying the scenario of political chaos in South Korea
The month of December in It was marked by moments of uncertainty and negative memories from a not-so-distant past. In an authoritarian maneuver, and until now little understood, the conservative president Yoon Suk Yeoldecreed martial law with vague justifications and bringing bad memories to the South Korean people, who until the end of the 1980s had become accustomed to coups d’état and dictators. President Yoon’s risky choice ricocheted and turned into an immense internal crisis in his party and in parliament as a whole, so that his removal could be approved. Popular pressure in the streets and the legislative majority in the hands of the opposition confirmed his impeachment before the turn of the year. Despite the approval of the deputies for the removal of the head of the executive, according to South Korean laws, the country’s Constitutional Court must endorse the choice of the legislature within six months, so that the removal is definitive and new elections are called.
For now, the judges of the highest court have not yet made a decision, but the South Korean Senior Officials Corruption Investigation Office, in the same vein as the country’s prosecutors, issued an arrest warrant for the removed president, after Yoon refused to testify and assist in the investigations that accuse him of the crime of insurrection. According to the country’s constitution, attempts at insurrection, if carried out by the president, do not fall within presidential immunities and can, in fact, put the president behind bars. During this Friday morning, however, the execution of the arrest warrant was prevented after around 200 agents from the presidential security service blocked police actions and compliance with the order. Clashes were witnessed, but no weapons were drawn and no people were injured, according to the country’s press.
The arrest warrant is valid until January 6th and allows the police to detain the outgoing president for at least two days for interrogation. President Yoon’s legal team argues that the order is illegal and that the body responsible for investigating insurrections is not the corruption investigation office. In any case, preventing compliance with a court decision constitutes obstruction of justice, and consequently Yoon’s security chiefs will also be investigated.
The removed president will probably be detained for a few hours to provide further clarification, and many political analysts specializing in the country say that the chances of his removal being permanent are also high. Whatever the outcome of this imbroglio, South Korea’s young democracy is going through its most challenging test in decades, meaning that the hard-won stability could quickly disappear. The opposition, represented by the Democratic Party, may emerge greatly strengthened from this crisis, but there will be no guarantee of easy times ahead. As long as the real reasons for the martial law decree are not revealed, flirtations with authoritarianism will continue to occur, putting one of Asia’s most important democracies at risk.
*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Jovem Pan.
