Hundreds of South Koreans, bundled up against freezing temperatures and snow, gathered on Sunday near the residence of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, calling for his removal and arrest, as authorities prepare to renew efforts to detain him over the government’s decree. martial law.
Dozens of investigators from anti-corruption agencies and police attempted to execute an arrest warrant against Yoon on Friday, but withdrew from his Seoul residence after a tense standoff with the presidential security service that lasted more than five hours.
Last Tuesday, a Seoul court issued a warrant to detain Yoon and a separate warrant to search his residence after the president defied authorities by refusing to appear for questioning and obstructing searches of his office.
The warrant for his arrest is valid until tomorrow, but there were no immediate indications that anti-corruption authorities were ready to send investigators back to the residence as of Sunday afternoon. Officials from the presidential security service were seen installing barbed wire near the gate and along the hills leading to Yoon’s residence over the weekend, possibly in preparation for another attempted detention.
Yoon’s lawyers challenged the arrest and search warrants against the president, saying they cannot be executed at his residence due to a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from searches without the consent of the person responsible – which would be Yoon.
They also argue that the anti-corruption office does not have the legal authority to investigate accusations of rebellion and that the police officers do not have the legal authority to assist in Yoon’s detention.
