‘The execution of the arrest warrant has begun’: South Korea Investigators attempt to detain President Yoon amid security standoff in Seoul

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Police and anti-corruption investigators arrive at the residence of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul January 3, 2025. South Korean investigators entered the residence of impeached President Yoon and began executing a warrant for his arrest on January 3 over his failed martial law bid, the first time the country has ever sought to arrest a sitting leader. — AFP pic

SEOUL, Jan 3 — South Korean investigators entered the residence of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and began executing a warrant for his arrest today over his failed martial law bid, the first time the country has ever sought to arrest a sitting leader.

The suspended 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, now faces arrest, imprisonment or, at worst, the death penalty.

“The execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk-yeol has begun,” said the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is probing Yoon’s short-lived declaration of martial law, with its officials and police seen entering the president’s residence.

Yoon, who has already been suspended from duty by lawmakers, would become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested.

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.

But they were “blocked by a military unit inside” after entering, the Yonhap news agency reported.

It had been unclear whether the Presidential Security Service, which still protects Yoon as the country’s sitting head of state, would comply with investigators’ warrants.

South Korean police vehicles (left) gather near the residence of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul January 3, 2025. — AFP pic

Members of his security team have previously blocked attempted police raids of the presidential residence, but it was not immediately clear which unit had blocked investigators today.

Dozens of police buses and hundreds of uniformed police lined the street outside the compound in central Seoul, AFP reporters saw.

Some 2,700 police and 135 police buses have been deployed to the area to prevent clashes, Yonhap reported, after Yoon’s supporters faced off with anti-Yoon demonstrators Thursday.

Yoon has been holed up inside the residence since a court approved the warrant to detain him earlier this week, vowing to “fight” authorities seeking to question him over his failed martial law bid.

South Korean media have reported that CIO officials want to arrest Yoon and take him to their office in Gwacheon near Seoul for questioning.

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.

A supporter of South Korea's impeached president Yoon Suk-yeol waves flags of South Korea and the United States near the location where an anti-Yoon rally is taking place in Seoul January 2, 2025. — AFP pic

All-night prayers

After staging chaotic protests yesterday, a handful of Yoon’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.

“Illegal warrant is invalid” they chanted early today, as police and media gathered outside the residence.

“Yoon Suk-yeol, Yoon Suk-yeol,” they yelled, waving red glow sticks.

Yoon’s lawyer confirmed to AFP yesterday that the impeached leader remained inside the presidential compound.

Yoon’s legal team has filed for an injunction to a constitutional court to block the warrant, calling the arrest order “an unlawful and invalid act”, and also submitted an objection to the Seoul court that ordered it.

But the head of the CIO, Oh Dong-woon, has warned that anyone trying to block authorities from arresting Yoon could themselves face prosecution.

Along with the summons, a Seoul court issued a search warrant for his official residence and other locations, a CIO official told AFP.

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. — AFP